States v. van der Horst, 270 F.Supp. 365, 369 (D.Del.1967).
The United States proceeded under this treaty to collect Mr. Miller's tax debt. In its answer in the instant suit, the Government admits that "the Internal Revenue Service was assisted by the government of [the] Netherlands in levying on property" in the Netherlands (Doc. 13 ¶ 2). Specifically, plaintiffs' complaint alleges that Dutch agents seized and sold the contents of a safe-deposit box in a Dutch bank (Doc. 1 ¶ 2). The Government's answer suggests that the Netherlands forwarded the sale proceeds to the United States (Doc. 13 ¶ 2).
Plaintiffs, alleging that they alone were the lawful owners of the contents of the safe-deposit box, claim that the United States thereby levied on their property to satisfy their father's("a levy has been made"), Congress did not specify who must execute the levy. Common sense suggests, however, that Congress did not intend to subject the United States to liability for a foreign state's independent acts. The act-of-state doctrine, as explained below, would in any event prevent United States courts from enforcing such liability. I conclude, accordingly, that the waiver of sovereign immunity under § 7426 applies only where the United States has levied.
In support of its claim that § 7426 does not authorize plaintiffs' complaint, the Government argues, first, that plaintiffs fail to allege a "levy" by the United States. The contents of the safe deposit box, the Government asserts, were "not seized in the United States by American officials under authority of the Internal Revenue Code"