Filing Form 720

Use Form 720 to report and pay the excise taxes discussed earlier. File Form 720 for each calendar quarter until you file a final Form 720. If you are not reporting a tax that you normally report, enter zero on the line for that tax.

Be sure to sign the return. An unsigned return is not considered filed.

You may be required to file your returns on a monthly or semimonthly basis instead of quarterly if you do not make deposits as required (see Deposit Requirements, later) or are liable for the excise tax on gasoline, diesel fuel, or kerosene and meet certain conditions.

Form 720. The form has various sections.

• Part I consists of excise taxes generally required to be deposited (See Deposit Requirements, later).
• Part II consists of excise taxes that are not required to be deposited.
• Part III consists of the lines for your total tax, showing any claims and overpayments from previous quarters, indicating the amount of your deposits, and determining the balance due or any overpayment.
• Schedule A, Excise Tax Liability, is used to record your net tax liability for each semimonthly period in a quarter. Complete it if you have an entry in Part I.
• Schedule C, Claims, is used to make claims only if you are reporting a liability in Part I or Part II.

Attachments to Form 720. You may have to attach the following forms.

• Form 6197 for the gas guzzler tax.
• Form 6627 for environmental taxes.

Form 720X. This new form is used to make adjustments to liability reported on Forms 720 filed in previous quarters. Previously these adjustments were made in Part I of Schedule C (Form 720).

You can file Form 720X by itself or, if it shows a decrease in tax, you can attach it to Form 720. See the form and its instructions for more information.

Conditions to allowance. For tax decreases, the claimant must check the appropriate box on Form 720X stating that:

1. For adjustments of communications or air transportation taxes, the claimant has:
   1. Repaid the tax to the person from whom it was collected, or
   2. Obtained the consent of that person to allowance of the adjustment.
2. For other adjustments, the claimant has:
   1. Not included the tax in the price of the article and not collected the tax from the purchaser,
   2. Repaid the tax to the ultimate purchaser, or
   3. Attached the written consent of the ultimate purchaser to the allowance of the adjustment.

However, the conditions listed under (2) do not apply to environmental taxes, the ship passenger tax, obligations not in registered form, foreign insurance taxes, fuels used on inland waterways, alcohol sold as fuel but not used as fuel, and taxes based on the use of certain fuels (dyed diesel fuel in trains or buses and LPG, CNG, and other special motor fuels).

Employer identification number. If you file Form 720, you need an employer identification number (EIN), unless you are a one-time filer (discussed next). If you do not have an EIN, you need to file Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number. You can get a Form SS-4 from the IRS or from the Social Security Administration. If you do not receive an EIN by the time a return is due, file your return anyway and write "Applied for" and the date you applied in the space for the EIN. See the Form SS-4 instructions for how to file.

Third party designee. You can check the "Yes" box in the third party designee area to authorize the IRS to discuss your Form 720 with an employee of your business or another person. This allows the IRS to call the designee to answer any questions that arise during the processing of your return. It also allows your designee to perform certain actions. See the form instructions for more information.

One-time filing. If you import a vehicle, you may be eligible to make a one-time filing of Form 720 for the gas guzzler tax or the luxury tax if you meet the following three conditions.

• You do not use the vehicle in the course of your trade or business.
• You do not import gas guzzling cars or luxury vehicles in the course of your trade or business.
• You are not required to file Form 720 to report any other excise taxes.

File Form 720 for the quarter in which you incur the tax liability. Attach Form 6197 if you report the gas guzzler tax. Pay the full tax with the return. No deposits are required. Check the one-time filing box on page 1, Form 720.

Final return. File a final return if either of the following apply to you.

• You go out of business.
• You will not owe excise taxes that are reportable on Form 720 in future quarters.

Due dates. Form 720 must be filed by the following due dates.

If any due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, you can file the return on the next business day.

You must report the floor stocks tax imposed on ODCs held on January 1, as discussed earlier, on the return due by July 31 of the year that the tax is imposed.

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