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s 507 Priorities
(a) The following expenses and claims have priority in the
following order:
(1) First, administrative expenses allowed under section 503(b)
of this title, and any fees and charges assessed against the estate
under chapter 123 of title 28.
(2) Second, unsecured claims allowed under section 502(f) of
this title.
(3) Third, allowed unsecured claims for wages, salaries, or
commissions, including vacation, severance, and sick leave pay--
(A) earned by an individual within 90 days before the date of
the filing of the petition or the date of the cessation of the
debtor's business, whichever occurs first; but only
(B) to the extent of $2,000 for each such individual.
(4) Fourth, allowed unsecured claims for contributions to an
employee benefit--
(A) arising from services rendered within 180 days before the
date of the filing of the petition or the date of the cessation of
the debtor's business, whichever occurs first; but only
(B) for each such plan, to the extent of--
(i) the number of employees covered by each such plan
multiplied by $2,000; less
(ii) the aggregate amount paid to such employees under
paragraph (3) of this subsection, plus the aggregate amount paid by
the estate on behalf of such employees to any other employee
benefit plan.
(5) Fifth, allowed unsecured claims of persons--
(A) engaged in the production or raising of grain, as defined
in section 557(b)(1) of this title, against a debtor who owns or
operates a grain storage facility, as defined in section 557(b)(2)
of this title, for grain or the proceeds of grain, or
(B) engaged as a United States fisherman against a debtor who
has acquired fish or fish produce from a fisherman through a sale
or conversion, and who is engaged in operating a fish produce
storage or processing facility-- but only to the extent of $2,000
for each such individual.
(6) Sixth, allowed unsecured claims of individuals, to the
extent of $900 for each such individual, arising from the deposit,
before the commencement of the case, of money in connection with
the purchase, lease, or rental of property, or the purchase of
services, for the personal, family, or household use of such
individuals, that were not delivered or provided.
(7) Seventh, allowed unsecured claims of governmental units,
only to the extent that such claims are for--
(A) a tax on or measured by income or gross receipts--
(i) for a taxable year ending on or before the date of the
filing of the petition for which a return, if required, is last
due, including extensions, after three years before the date of the
filing of the petition;
(ii) assessed within 240 days, plus any time plus 30 days
during which an offer in compromise with respect to such tax that
was made within 240 days after such assessment was pending, before
the date of the filing of the petition; or
(iii) other than a tax of a kind specified in section
523(a)(1)(B) or 523(a)(1)(C) of this title, not assessed before,
but assessable, under applicable law or by agreement, after, the
commencement of the case;
(B) a property tax assessed before the commencement of the case
and last payable without penalty after one year before the date of
the filing of the petition;
(C) a tax required to be collected or withheld and for which
the debtor is liable in whatever capacity;
(D) an employment tax on a wage, salary, or commission of a
kind specified in paragraph (3) of this subsection earned from the
debtor before the date of the filing of the petition, whether or
not actually paid before such date, for which a return is last due,
under applicable law or under any extension, after three years
before the date of the filing of the petition;
(E) an excise tax on--
(i) a transaction occurring before the date of the filing of
the petition for which a return, if required, is last due, under
applicable law or under any extension, after three years before the
date of the filing of the petition; or
(ii) if a return is not required, a transaction occurring
during the three years immediately preceding the date of the filing
of the petition;
(F) a customs duty arising out of the importation of
merchandise--
(i) entered for consumption within one year before the date of
the filing of the petition;
(ii) covered by an entry liquidated or reliquidated within one
year before the date of the filing of the petition; or
(iii) entered for consumption within four years before the
date of the filing of the petition but unliquidated on such date,
if the Secretary of the Treasury certifies that failure to
liquidate such entry was due to an investigation pending on such
date into assessment of antidumping or countervailing duties or
fraud, or if information needed for the proper appraisement or
classification of such merchandise was not available to the
appropriate customs officer before such date; or
(G) a penalty related to a claim of a kind specified in this
paragraph and in compensation for actual pecuniary loss.
(8) Eighth, allowed unsecured claims based upon any commitment
by the debtor to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the
Resolution Trust Corporation, the Director of the Office of Thrift
Supervision, the Comptroller of the Currency, or the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or their predecessors or
successors, to maintain the capital of an insured depository
institution.
(b) If the trustee, under section 362, 363, or 364 of this title,
provides adequate protection of the interest of a holder of a claim
secured by a lien on property of the debtor and if, notwithstanding
such protection, such creditor has a claim allowable under
subsection (a)(1) of this section arising from the stay of action
against such property under section 362 of this title, from the
use, sale, or lease of such property under section 363 of this
title, or from the granting of a lien under section 364(d) of this
title, then such creditor's claim under such subsection shall have
priority over every other claim allowable under such subsection.
(c) For the purpose of subsection (a) of this section, a claim of
a governmental unit arising from an erroneous refund or credit of
a tax has the same priority as a claim for the tax to which such
refund or credit relates.
(d) An entity that is subrogated to the rights of a holder of a
claim of a kind specified in subsection (a)(3), (a)(4), (a)(5), or
(a)(6) of this section is not subrogated to the right of the holder
of such claim to priority under such subsection.
(Pub.L. 95-598, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2583.)
(As amended Pub.L. 98-353, Title III, ss 350, 449, July 10, 1984,
98 Stat. 358, 374; Pub.L. 101-647, Title XXV, s 2522(d), Nov. 29,
1990, 104 Stat. 4867.)
