FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 153 
The period allowed for payment of taxes before they become delin- 
quent varies from 1 to 9 months, but in a majority of States is not more 
than 3 months. After a tax becomes delinquent it ordinarily becomes 
subject to an interest charge, a flat penalty, or both. Thus in Con- 
necticut taxes become delinquent 1 month after the first publication 
of the collection date and are subject to an interest charge of 9 percent 
perannum. In Colorado the interest rate is 10 percent, being imposed 
4 months after the tax becomes due. In Oklahoma the rate is 15 
percent on the whole tax if the first half is not paid 60 days after the 
rolls are filed with the county treasurer. In none of these States is 
there a preliminary penalty. In Idaho there is a 2-percent penalty, 
then 10-percent interest; in Tennessee, a 7-percent penalty, then 6 
percent interest; in Montana, a 10-percent penalty, then 12 percent 
interest. The dates of delinquency are 1 month, 7 months, and 40 
days respectively after the tax becomes due. Examples of States 
which impose a flat penalty but no additional interest charge after a 
tax has become delinquent are: New York, 5 percent after 1 month; 
Indiana, 10 percent after 4 months; Minnesota, 5 percent after 5 
months and 10 percent after 10 months. In Florida discounts are 
allowed for prompt payment of taxes but no penalties are imposed 
after delinquency. In Mississippi there are neither discounts nor 
penalties (38, pp. 214-222). 
The penalties and interest charges mentioned above are those im- 
posed for short periods only; they terminate or give way to other 
schedules after a tax sale, after the tax lien has been registered or 
reduced to a judgment, or after the delinquency has, by some other 
legal process, acquired a different status. 
DISTRAINT OF PERSONAL PROPERTY 
The laws ordinarily provide that as soon as taxes on either real or 
personal property become delinquent the collecting official must 
attempt to collect them by the distraint and sale of personal property. 
Tax liens on real estate usually attach directly to the property itself, 
regardless of whether it has been sold since the date of assessment. 
In the case of personal property, the lien attaches to all the property 
of the taxpayer, whether owned on assessment day or subsequently 
purchased, but not to any property that is sold by him after assess- 
ment day before it has been attached. 
Thus, while a subsequent purchaser becomes liable for any unpaid taxes levied 
upon real estate, he is not usually liable for payment of any taxes levied upon 
personal property * * 
Personal property can usually be sold by the tax collector for either delinquent 
personal property taxes or delinquent real-estate taxes without court action. 
Court action is, however, usually prerequisite to real-estate sales, but this is not 
always the case. Most of the State laws also provide that the collectors may sue 
the taxpayers for any unpaid taxes (38, pp. 74-75). 
Connecticut even permits imprisonment for tax delinquency, and 
the 1927 report of the State tax commissioner mentions the fact that 
2 towns collected 9 personal taxes by imprisonment (65, p.7). 
ENFORCEMENT OF REAL-ESTATE TAX LIENS 
There has been no recent comprehensive study of the methods by 
which real estate tax liens are enforced, and the analysis which follows 
is based on information secured in selected States in connection with 
this investigation, supplemented mainly by material assembled in 1928 
