how is an excise tax different from a sales tax 
excise and sales taxes are two different types of taxes an excise tax is imposed on specific goods and is generally the responsibility of the merchant to pay to the government the merchant in turn may or may not pass the tax on to the consumer by adding it into the price a sales tax on the other hand is charged on almost everything and is collected from the consumer by the merchant who passes it on to the government the sales tax is a percentage of the price of the good or service the bottom lineexcise taxes are assessed by federal and state governments on certain goods and services they are paid by the merchants that sell them excise taxes can be a flat tax amount known as a specific excise tax or a percentage of the cost of the good known as an ad valorem excise tax they may also be limited only to goods sold within the state of the taxing authority businesses often add the cost of an excise tax directly onto the price of the taxed good so the tax is passed onto the customer customers may or may not know they are paying the cost of the excise tax on top of the price of the good or service some companies are transparent about excise taxes though like fuel companies next time you go to fill up your gas tank take a look at the pump the company may break down how much of the price at the pump goes toward the fuel itself versus how much you pay in taxes 