ALBERT C. RITCHIE, GOVERNOR. 641

ing to execute a distraint or to collect the tax imposed under this
Article; and a failure so to do upon demand made shall be
deemed a misdemeanor and subject to indictment, and upon
indictment and conviction shall subject the offender to a fine
of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.

24. Any warehouseman, custodian or agent paying the tax
on distilled spirits herein provided for shall have a lien upon
the spirits covered by such tax.

25. It shall be the duty of the State Tax Commission to
devise and prescribe such forms and blanks for reports and
returns as may be needed or useful for carrying out the pro-
visions of Sections 20 to 24, inclusive, of this Article.

Notices as to Assessments.

26. (a) Before (1) any existing assessment against any
person for the last preceding year shall be increased, or (2)
any classification of any property changed, or (3) any assess-
ment against any person transferred to another person, or
(4) any new assessment made against any person, either by
the State Tax Commission (acting within its original juris-
diction), the County Commissioners, or the Appeal Tax Court
of Baltimore City, it shall be the duty of the assessing author-
ity (except in cases where the notice by publication authorized
in Section 177 shall have been given) to notify the person
against whom it is proposed to make, increase or change such
assessment or classification by a written or printed notice, ap-
pointing a day for such person to make answer thereto or pre-
sent such proof as he may desire in the premises.

(b) Such notice shall be served on such person at least
ten days before the day of hearing appointed therein, in the
following manner, that is to say, either (1) by personal serv-
ice in the manner in which original process in an action at
law is required to be served by the sheriff, or (2) by leaving
a copy of such summons at such person's last place of abode,
or (3) by placing a copy of the notice in the United States
mail postage prepaid, addressed to such person at his ordi-
nary post office address for the receipt of mail, in a sealed
envelope with the return address of the State Tax Commission,
County Commissioners, or Appeal Tax Court, as the case may
be, on the outside, provided that if such person resides or does
business in Baltimore City, it shall be sufficient if said envelope
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