Table of Contents
Generally, semimonthly deposits of excise taxes are required. A semimonthly period is the first 15 days of a month (the first semimonthly period) or the 16th through the last day of a month (the second semimonthly period).
However, no deposit is required for the situations listed below; the taxes are payable with Form 720.
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The net liability for taxes listed in Part I (Form 720) does not exceed $2,500 for the quarter.
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The gas guzzler tax is being paid on a one-time filing.
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The liability is for taxes listed in Part II (Form 720), except for the floor stocks tax which generally requires a single deposit.
To avoid a penalty, make your deposits timely and do not mail your deposits directly to the IRS. Records of your deposits will be sent to the IRS for crediting to your accounts.
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The total deposits of such taxes in 2007 exceeded $200,000 or
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You were required to use EFTPS in 2008 or any prior year.
There are two methods for determining deposits: the regular method and the alternative method.
The regular method applies to all taxes in Part I of Form 720 except for communications and air transportation taxes if deposits are based on amounts billed or tickets sold, rather than on amounts actually collected. See Alternative method, below.
If you are depositing more than one tax under a method, combine all the taxes under the method and make one deposit for the semimonthly period.
To use the alternative method, you must keep a separate account of the tax included in amounts billed or tickets sold during the month and report on Form 720 the tax included in amounts billed or tickets sold and not the amount of tax that is actually collected. For example, amounts billed in December, January, and February are considered collected during January, February, and March and are reported on Form 720 as the tax for the 1st quarter of the calendar year.
The separate account for each month must reflect:
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All items of tax included in amounts billed or tickets sold during the month, and
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Other items of adjustment relating to tax for prior months (within the statute of limitations on credits or refunds).
The separate account for any month cannot include an adjustment resulting from a refusal to pay or inability to collect unless the refusal has been reported to the IRS. See Uncollected Tax Report in chapter 4.
The net amount of tax that is considered collected during the semimonthly period must be either:
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The net amount of tax reflected in the separate account for the corresponding semimonthly period of the preceding month, or
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One-half of the net amount of tax reflected in the separate account for the preceding month.
Deposits for a semimonthly period generally must be at least 95% of the net tax liability for that period unless the safe harbor rule (discussed later) applies. Generally, you do not have to make a deposit for a period in which you incurred no tax liability.
The safe harbor rule applies separately to deposits under the regular method and the alternative method. Persons who filed Form 720 for the look-back quarter (the 2nd calendar quarter preceding the current quarter) are considered to meet the semimonthly deposit requirement if the deposit for each semimonthly period in the current quarter is at least (16.67%) of the net tax liability reported for the look-back quarter.
For the semimonthly period for which the additional deposit is required, the additional deposit must be at least (12.23%), (11.12%) for non-EFTPS, of the net tax liability reported for the look-back quarter. Also, the total deposit for that semimonthly period must be at least (16.67%) of the net tax liability reported for the look-back quarter.
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The 1st and 2nd quarters beginning on or after the effective date of an increase in the rate of tax unless the deposit of taxes for each semimonthly period in the calendar quarter is at least (16.67%) of the tax liability you would have had for the look-back quarter if the increased rate of tax had been in effect for that look-back quarter,
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Any quarter if liability includes any tax not in effect throughout the look-back quarter, or
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For deposits under the alternative method, any quarter if liability includes any tax not in effect throughout the look-back quarter and the month preceding the look-back quarter.
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Make each deposit timely at an authorized financial institution, and
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Pay any underpayment for the current quarter by the due date of the return.
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