- Alternative method
- For air transportation taxes, a deposit method based on amounts considered collected (billed) rather than actually received, with a built-in timing offset. Learn more →
- Communications tax
- The 3% federal excise tax on local telephone and teletypewriter service, reported on Form 720, Part I, IRS No. 22. Collected by the service provider from the customer. Learn more →
- Covered life
- A person covered under a health plan for purposes of the PCORI fee — including employees, spouses, and dependents. The fee equals the applicable rate times the average number of covered lives for the plan year. Learn more →
- EFTPS
- The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System — the IRS system used to make federal tax deposits electronically. Part I excise taxes are generally deposited via EFTPS on a semimonthly schedule.
- Excise tax
- A tax on a specific good, service, or activity — such as fuel, air travel, or indoor tanning — rather than on income. Federal excise taxes reported on Form 720 are usually owed by the manufacturer, provider, or seller, not the end consumer directly.
- First retail sale
- The first sale of an article at retail after manufacture or import. Retail excise taxes — such as the 12% heavy truck tax — apply to this first retail sale price. Learn more →
- Floor stocks tax
- A one-time tax imposed on inventory held on a particular date when a tax rate changes or a new tax takes effect.
- Form 720
- The Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return. Businesses use it to report and pay federal excise taxes across more than 60 categories — fuel, air transportation, the PCORI fee, tires, heavy trucks, indoor tanning, communications, and more. Learn more →
- Gross vehicle weight (GVW)
- The maximum loaded weight of a vehicle. The 12% heavy truck excise tax applies to trucks, trailers, and tractors above specified GVW thresholds. Learn more →
- Indoor tanning services
- Services using ultraviolet lamps to induce skin tanning, subject to a 10% federal excise tax under IRC §5000B (Form 720, IRS No. 140). Spray tans and phototherapy are exempt. Learn more →
- IRS number
- A two- or three-digit code identifying a specific excise tax category on Form 720 (for example, No. 133 for the PCORI fee or No. 155 for the remittance transfer tax). Each line you file is tied to an IRS number.
- Part I tax
- Excise taxes on Form 720 that are generally subject to semimonthly deposit rules and reported with Schedule A — including fuel, air transportation, and the remittance transfer tax.
- Part II tax
- Excise taxes on Form 720 that are typically paid with the return rather than deposited semimonthly — including the PCORI fee, indoor tanning, and sport fishing equipment.
- PCORI fee
- The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research fee (also called the PCOR fee), an annual fee on health insurers and self-insured plan sponsors under IRC §4376. Reported on Form 720, IRS No. 133. The rate is $3.84 per covered life for plan years ending Oct 1, 2025 – Sep 30, 2026. Learn more →
- Regular method
- For air transportation taxes, a deposit method based on amounts actually collected during each semimonthly period. Learn more →
- Remittance transfer
- A cross-border consumer money transfer handled by a remittance transfer provider. Under IRC §4475, taxable remittance transfers carry a 1% federal excise tax reported on Form 720, IRS No. 155, for transfers after December 31, 2025. Learn more →
- Schedule A
- The Form 720 schedule used to report excise tax liability by semimonthly period. It reconciles your semimonthly deposits to the total tax shown on the return for Part I taxes.
- Schedule C
- The Form 720 schedule used to claim credits and refunds — most commonly nontaxable-use fuel credits — that offset excise tax liability.
- Schedule T
- The Form 720 schedule used to report two-party exchanges of taxable fuel within the bulk transfer/terminal system.
- Semimonthly period
- A deposit period for Part I excise taxes: the 1st–15th and the 16th–end of each month. Deposits are generally due within a few business days after each period closes.
- Sport fishing equipment
- Reels, lures, flies, and lines (No. 41) and fishing rods & poles (No. 110) are taxed at 10%; fishing tackle boxes (No. 114) and electric outboard motors (No. 42) are taxed at 3% under IRC §4161(a), reported on Form 720, Part II. Learn more →
- Ultimate vendor / ultimate purchaser
- In fuel excise tax credits, the ultimate purchaser is the party that uses fuel for a nontaxable purpose; the ultimate vendor is the seller who may claim the credit in certain cases.