• US - English
  • Australia - English
  • Europe - English
  • Canada - English
  • Canada - Français
  • Services

    • Credits & Incentives
    • Employment Tax
    • Income Tax
    • Indirect Tax
    • Managed Services
    • Property Tax
    • Severance Tax & Royalty
    • Specialty Services
    • Unclaimed Property
  • Technology

    • Client Portal
    • Indirect Tax
    • Marketplace
    • Property Tax
    • Resource Center
    • Transfer Pricing
    • Unclaimed Property
  • Why Ryan

    • Advocacy
    • Client Stories
    • Our Experts
    • Our Pledges
  • Who We Are

    • Awards and Recognition
    • Careers
    • Find an Office
    • Life at Ryan
    • Our History
    • Our Leaders

Follow Us


  • Trust Center
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Notice
  • Site Help
  • Accessibility
  • Vulnerability Disclosure Program
  • Cookie Preferences

© 2026 Ryan, LLC

A Multidisciplinary
Team of Tax Experts

Find An Expert
  • Josh Cohen

    Josh Cohen

    Principal, Practice Leader, Transaction Tax

    Indirect Tax

  • Alan Decker

    Alan Decker

    Principal, Vice Practice Leader, Transaction Tax

    Indirect Tax

  • Owen R. Evans

    Owen R. Evans

    Principal, Vice Practice Leader, Tax Compliance Services

    Indirect Tax

  • Clara Kippes

    Clara Kippes

    Principal, Vice Practice Leader, Transaction Tax

    Indirect Tax

  • Kristi Bryant

    Kristi Bryant

    Principal, Vice Practice Leader, Transaction Tax

    Indirect Tax

  • Matthew Scherer

    Matthew Scherer

    Principal, Vice Practice Leader, Transaction Tax

    Indirect Tax

Advanced Solutions for Your
Business’s Toughest Challenges

  • Technology
    Enter the future of tax with confidence. Our proprietary platform blends AI-driven automation with decades of tax expertise to simplify global compliance, reduce liabilities, and uncover hidden savings—giving your business a decisive edge.1,3000+Companies trust our tax platform
  • Managed Services
    Total tax management, zero guesswork. With our end-to-end managed services, the world’s leading tax professionals handle every detail—reducing risk, removing administrative burden, and ensuring you only pay what you owe.7.10.0K+Multidisciplinary experts

SPEAK WITH A TAX EXPERT

Discover How We Help You Pay Only What You Owe—Nothing More

ServicesIndirect TaxExcise Tax

Precision and Expertise in Excise Tax Compliance

  • SPEAK WITH AN EXPERT

Navigate Excise Tax Complexities with Confidence

Complex excise tax regulations drain resources and create costly penalties across fuel, air transportation, alcohol, cargo, environmental, and other specialized tax areas. Our excise tax services function as an extension of your tax department, utilizing technology-enabled solutions to streamline recovery and reporting while managing the cost of compliance. By eliminating manual processes and minimizing errors, especially for large transaction volumes, we provide a sustainable foundation that reduces the risk of tax notices and penalties.

Resources

Insights
Resources
Events
Press Room
01Overview02Tax Services03Proven Results04Industry Impact05FAQs
  • Overview

    Your Partner in Excise Tax Compliance, Recovery, and Strategy

    The cumbersome nature of managing high transaction volumes often leads businesses to lose thousands of dollars annually to excise tax overpayments and compliance mistakes. We specialize in recovering these losses while preventing future problems through in-depth review. Our specialists focus on finding money you didn’t know you were owed through detailed examination of exemptions, credits, and refund opportunities.

    Technology integration and advanced applications accelerate our review process while strategic planning prevents recurring issues. Operating across global transaction tax markets, we customize solutions to your specific industry challenges. Whether you need federal, state, or local excise tax support, our professionals handle complex multilevel compliance requirements efficiently.

  • Tax Services

  • Proven Results

    We deliver effective, multijurisdictional tax strategies for businesses operating across complex excise tax environments, including fuel tax, air transportation taxes, cargo, alcohol drawback, environmental, and ticker taxes. Leveraging proprietary technology for audit defensibility and compliance, we help organizations across all industries recover overpaid taxes by examining exemption eligibility and missed credits and streamlining compliance to significantly reduce audit exposure.

  • Industry Impact

    Business Sectors Ryan Serves

  • FAQs

    Frequently Asked Questions

Truck driving sunlight
Truck driving sunlight

Ryan’s Track Record of Success

Minimize Risk, Maximize Accuracy: Excise Tax Services for Businesses

Our specialists manage and summarize real-time tax decision value for federal, state, and local excise tax obligations, from routine filings to complex multijurisdictional requirements. We combine deep regulatory knowledge and industry focus with technology-driven solutions to reduce errors, prevent penalties, perform audit defense reviews, and uncover refund opportunities that may have been missed.

  • Distribution

    Our excise tax consultants help distributors navigate complex cargo tax obligations across domestic and international operations. We manage end-to-end compliance with federal cargo taxes, identify exemptions for qualifying shipments, and ensure accurate reporting across all jurisdictions.

  • Transportation

    Our tax experts support transportation businesses with air transportation taxes, ticket taxes, and comprehensive fuel tax management. From multijurisdictional obligations to International Fuel Tax Agreements (IFTA) reporting, we expertly handle compliance and identify opportunities to reduce your overall tax burden.

  • Food and Beverage

    We assist food and beverage businesses with alcohol drawback claims, helping to recover federal excise taxes paid on alcohol used in non-beverage products. We manage the complex documentation requirements, ensure timely filing, and maximize your eligible refunds for qualifying production activities.

  • Energy

    We provide energy businesses with specialized support for environmental taxes, including taxes on petroleum products, ozone-depleting chemicals, and other environmental levies. Our team ensures compliance with all environmental tax requirements while identifying credits and exemptions to reduce your tax exposure.

Overpayment and Recovery

Our Approach
We conduct a meticulous and comprehensive review of your historical and current tax data to identify and recover every dollar you’ve paid in incorrect excise tax payments. Our approach goes far beyond surface-level checks, digging deep into your financial and operational data to ensure maximum refund potential across all jurisdictions.

Preparation and Documentation Management

Forensic File Review 
We conduct a rigorous, internal review of your relevant financial records, excise tax forms, and supporting documentation. This allows us to preemptively identify and address potential vulnerabilities or gaps before taxing authorities do.

Audit-Ready Documentation
We compile and curate a comprehensive package of substantiating documentation. This process is powered by our secure, proprietary platform, which automates the aggregation and indexing of critical tax records. This approach ensures documents are instantly retrievable, traceable, and verifiable, delivering audit-ready records across your organization.

Compliance and Filing 

Our Approach
Our excise tax professionals optimize your compliance process to identify and prevent errors, reduce filing time, and integrate automated technology to catch and resolve costly mistakes proactively—especially for large transaction volumes that can burden internal tax teams. We review purchase and sale categories and nexus to verify that correct sales and use taxes are being charged by suppliers and identify exempt purchases to minimize excise tax obligations directly.


  • Our experts provide support across several complex and specialized excise tax categories, including: 
    • Fuels Tax: State, federal, and international fuel tax obligations.
    • Air Transportation Taxes: Support to cover passenger ticket tax and air cargo tax.
    • Alcohol Drawback: Assistance with claims to recover federal excise tax paid on alcohol used in non-beverage products.
    • Environmental Taxes: Compliance and recovery support for taxes on petroleum products, ozone-depleting chemicals, and related environmental obligations.
    • Ticker Tax: Management of the 1% excise tax levied on net stock repurchases (the Corporate Stock Repurchase Excise Tax).
  • Yes, we can manage your complete excise tax filing calendar, including initial applications, periodic returns, and license maintenance. Our team tracks deadlines and regulatory changes so you don’t have to.

Does Ryan work with businesses that operate in multiple states?

Absolutely. We coordinate excise tax compliance across all states where you operate. Our tax experts are well-versed in the varying state requirements and manage your obligations through a single point of contact, eliminating confusion and ensuring consistency.

Can Ryan assist my business during an excise tax audit?

Yes, we defend your position during audits by preparing required documentation, responding to agency requests, and negotiating settlements when appropriate. Our goal is to resolve audits quickly while minimizing additional tax assessments.

What industries does Ryan specialize in for excise tax services?

We work with a breadth of businesses across industries that face significant excise tax obligations and compliance challenges. Transportation firms benefit from our fuel tax services. Fuel dealers, wholesalers, and retail gas stations need specialized support for federal excise taxes, state fuel taxes, and complex distribution chain obligations.At the same time, manufacturers, construction firms, and distributors often overlook excise tax exemptions for fuel used in production processes, off-road equipment operations, and non-highway activities. Airlines, agricultural operations, mining businesses, and utility providers also benefit from our understanding of sector-specific exemptions and compliance requirements that can generate substantial savings when properly applied.Additionally, we help publicly traded businesses and affected entities manage their ticker tax—the 1% excise tax levied on net stock repurchases—obligations through a multifaceted approach centered on calculation accuracy, strategic netting, and compliance with complex regulations.

How does Ryan leverage technology to assist with excise tax compliance?

Our technology automates calculation errors, tracks filing deadlines, and monitors regulatory changes that affect your business. This approach reduces manual work while improving accuracy. Our solutions can also integrate with your existing systems to streamline data flow and eliminate duplicate entry requirements. We leverage this technology and tailor our solutions to meet your needs at every stage for seamless integration.