Q. what is an excise tax?

An excise tax is a tax paid when purchasing a specific good (e.g.- gasoline). These taxes are often included in the price of the product.

The IRS website on excise tax includes tax forms, publications, and refund claims.

You can also find definitions of excise tax from legal, accounting, and general dictionaries and encyclopedias using Credo Reference, a database the library makes available for free from our website. From the library's homepage, you would click on "The Digital Library" from the blue bar near the top of the page. Find "Credo Reference" from the A-Z list under "C". If using from home, you will be prompted to enter your library card. If you search "excise tax" (with the quotation marks) you can find definitions from a variety of dictionaries and encyclopedias; without quotations you can see definitions from international perspectives (British and French, to name two) as well as the origin of the term.

Please call (225) 231-3750 if you have any further questions about excise tax and using our databases.