Can the IRS seize a home for back taxes even if its homesteaded and sell it out from under you?

Question

An accountant told me that the IRS can put a lien on the property but can't sell it and that the lien means they get their money if the property is ever sold or they can take possession of the property if the homestead is dropped.

But a criminal attorney, not a tax attorney told me that on back taxes the IRS can take everything you own and leave you sleeping under the bridge and that the homestead doesn't mean a hill of beans to the IRS.

I know homestead prevents your home being taken from you if there is a judgement against you for money owed. Your allowed one car and one home but does the IRS play by a different set of rules?

Answer 1

Both are wrong but are nibbling at the edges of being right.  

A homestead does not protect you from a federal tax lien or, in my state, California, a state tax lien. Before IRS seizes a personal residence, it must get a federal court order. This action is very unusual. If a notice of lien was filed, you could not dispose of the house without paying off the lien in full or as much as possible from the proceeds.  Other assets including, within limits, tools of your trade and ordinary household goods are exempt from seizure.