THOMAS M. TWARDOWSKI, Bankruptcy Judge.
The debtor, Jay W. Mattis ("debtor"), has filed a motion to avoid the statutory lien of the IRS under 11 U.S.C. § 545(2), to which the United States has filed a motion to dismiss. The parties stipulate that the IRS properly filed a notice of tax lien pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 6323(a) and (f) prior to the filing of debtor's chapter 13 petition and that debtor owns no real property or automobiles, but only personal property valued at $2010.00. The parties further stipulate that the only issue to be decided is whether debtor can avoid the IRS lien under 11 U.S.C. § 545(2). For the reasons outlined below, we find that debtor lacks standing to invoke the § 545(2) avoiding powers of the trustee to avoid an IRS lien. Accordingly, we grant the United States' motion to dismiss.
11 U.S.C. § 545(2) provides that:
The
trustee may avoid the fixing of a statutory lien on property of the debtor to the extent that such lien —
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(2) is not perfected or enforceable at the time of the commencement of the case against a bona fide purchaser that purchases such property at the time of the commencement of the case, whether or not such a purchaser exists;
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(emphasis added). 11 U.S.C. § 522(h) confers standing upon a debtor to invoke the trustee's § 545 avoiding powers, but only to the extent that the debtor could exempt the property involved. Perry v. U.S.A. ( In re Perry), 90 B.R. 565 (Bankr.S.D.Fla. 1988); In re Ridgley, 81 B.R. 65 (Bankr.D.Or. 1987); Matter of Driscoll, 57 B.R. 322, 14 C.B.C.2d 146, Bankr.L.Rep. ¶ 70,994 (Bankr.W.D.Wisc. 1986).
The United States argues that since § 545 authorizes only the trustee to avoid statutory liens, debtor lacks standing to invoke the trustee's § 545(2) avoiding power. We find this position overly simplistic since it overlooks the impact of 11 U.S.C. § 522(h) upon 11 U.S.C. § 545(2).
However, 11 U.S.C. § 522(c)(2)(B) bestows added protection upon perfected tax liens and provides that exempt property remains liable for a tax lien, notice of which has been properly filed. We agree with those courts which have concluded that a debtor's limited standing to avoid statutory liens under 11 U.S.C. § 545 must be reconciled with the protection afforded perfected tax liens under 11 U.S.C. § 522(c)(2)(B). Like those courts, we hold that Congress did not intend to allow chapter 13 debtors to circumvent the effects of § 522(c)(2)(B) by invoking the trustee's avoiding power under § 545(2). See In re Perry, supra; In re Ridgley, supra; Matter of Driscoll, supra. Accordingly, we find that debtor lacks standing to file the instant motion to avoid the IRS lien under § 545(2) and we grant the United States' motion to dismiss.
An appropriate order will follow.