What Is Form 720 Used For?
Form 720 is used to report excise taxes on goods and services, like petroleum and other taxable chemicals, communications and air transport, fuel, and more. This form includes a payment voucher, too, allowing you to fulfill your responsibility immediately.
Who Should Use Form 720?
Form 720 should be used by businesses that sell, manufacture, or import goods and services to which excise taxes apply. That includes fuel companies, air transportation providers, certain retailers, and others.
When Is the Form 720 Due?
Form 720 is a quarterly form, so it’s due at the end of each quarter of a calendar year. More specifically, the due dates are as follows:
- April 30th for January, February, and March
- July 31st for April, May, and June
- October 31st for July, August, and September
- January 31st for October, November, and December
If any of these dates fall on a weekend or a national holiday, you can file the form on the next business day.
What Happens If Form 720 Is Not Submitted?
If Form 720 isn’t submitted, you’ll face penalties and accruing interest for each month that the tax is late. There are two penalties you may be subject to: failure to file and failure to pay. The former is 5% of the unpaid tax amount per month, with a maximum of 25%, while the latter is 0.5% of the unpaid tax per month.
You may also face a trust fund recovery penalty if your business collects taxes but doesn’t pay them to the IRS, or willfully doesn’t collect them. In this case, the penalty is the full tax amount.
How and Where Do I File Form 720?
You should file Form 720 with the IRS, either using the mailing address provided on the official website or one of the IRS-approved e-filing services for excise taxes.