Instructions For Form 720 - Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return

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Recordkeeping

United Parcel Service (UPS): UPS Next Day Air, UPS

Next Day Air Saver, UPS 2nd Day Air, UPS 2nd Day Air

Keep copies of your tax return, records, and accounts of

A.M., UPS Worldwide Express Plus, and UPS Worldwide

all transactions to show that the correct tax has been

Express.

paid. Keep records to support all claims and all

The private delivery service can tell you how to get

exemptions at least 4 years from the latest of the date:

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written proof of the mailing date.

The tax became due,

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You paid the tax, or

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Private delivery services cannot deliver items to

You filed a claim.

P.O. boxes. You must use the U.S. Postal Service

to mail any item to an IRS P.O. box address.

CAUTION

Penalties and Interest

Avoid penalties and interest by filing returns and

Unresolved Tax Issues

depositing and paying taxes when due. The law provides

penalties for filing a return late; depositing taxes late;

If you have attempted to deal with an IRS problem

paying taxes late; willfully failing to collect and pay tax or

unsuccessfully, you should contact the Taxpayer

file a return; negligence; and fraud. These penalties are

Advocate. The Taxpayer Advocate independently

in addition to the interest charge on late payments. The

represents your interests and concerns within the IRS by

penalty for filing a return late will not be imposed if you

protecting your rights and resolving problems that have

can show that the failure to file a timely return is due to

not been fixed through normal channels.

reasonable cause. Those filing after the due date must

While Taxpayer Advocates cannot change the tax law

attach an explanation to the return to show reasonable

or make a technical tax decision, they can clear up

cause.

problems that resulted from previous contacts and

Trust fund recovery penalty. If communications and air

ensure that your case is given a complete and impartial

transportation (trust fund) taxes are collected but not paid

review.

to the United States Treasury or are willfully not

Your assigned personal advocate will listen to your

collected, the trust fund recovery penalty may apply. The

point of view and will work with you to address your

penalty is the full amount of the unpaid trust fund tax.

concerns. You can expect the advocate to provide you

The trust fund recovery penalty may be imposed on all

with:

persons who are determined by the IRS to be

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A ‘‘fresh look’’ at your new or on-going problem.

responsible for collecting, accounting for, and paying

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Timely acknowledgment.

over these taxes, and who acted willfully in not doing so.

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The name and phone number of the individual

A responsible person can be an officer or employee

assigned to your case.

of a corporation, a partner or employee of a partnership,

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Updates on progress.

an employee of a sole proprietorship, an accountant, or a

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Timeframes for action.

volunteer director/trustee. A responsible person may also

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Speedy resolution.

include one who signs checks for the business or

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Courteous service.

otherwise has authority to cause the spending of

When contacting the Taxpayer Advocate, you should

business funds.

provide the following information:

Willfully means voluntarily, consciously, and

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Your name, address, and taxpayer identification

intentionally. A responsible person acts willfully if he or

number.

she knows the required actions are not taking place.

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The name and telephone number of an authorized

contact person and the hours he or she can be reached.

Additional Information

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The type of tax return and year(s) or period(s) (for

You may find the following publications helpful when

quarterly returns) involved.

preparing Form 720 and any attachments:

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A detailed description of the problem.

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Pub. 510, Excise Taxes for 2003, contains definitions

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Previous attempts to solve the problem and the office

and examples that will help you prepare Form 720.

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you contacted.

Pub. 378, Fuel Tax Credits and Refunds, has

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A description of the hardship you are facing (if

information on nontaxable uses of fuels.

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applicable).

Pub. 509, Tax Calendars for 2003, has deposit and

You may contact a Taxpayer Advocate by calling a

payment due dates for all Federal excise taxes.

toll-free number, 1-877-777-4778. Persons who have

access to TTY/TDD equipment may call 1-800-829-4059

Private Delivery Services

and ask for Taxpayer Advocate assistance. If you prefer,

You can use certain private delivery services designated

you may call, write, or fax the Taxpayer Advocate office

by the IRS to meet the “timely mailing as timely filing/

in your area. See Pub. 1546, The Taxpayer Advocate

paying” rule for tax returns and payments. The most

Service of the IRS, for a list of addresses and fax

recent list of designated private delivery services was

numbers.

published by the IRS in September 2002. The list

includes only the following:

Photographs of Missing Children

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Airborne Express (Airborne): Overnight Air Express

Service, Next Afternoon Service, and Second Day

The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the

Service.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

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DHL Worldwide Express (DHL): DHL “Same Day”

Photographs of missing children selected by the Center

Service and DHL USA Overnight.

may appear in instructions on pages that would otherwise

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Federal Express (FedEx): FedEx Priority Overnight,

be blank. You can help bring these children home by

FedEx Standard Overnight, FedEx 2Day, FedEx

looking at the photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST

International Priority, and FedEx International First.

(1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.

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Instructions For Form 720 - Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return - 2003 Page 2

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