Sections 3(s)(1) and 13(a)(2) of the amended Act as well as sections 3(s)(1), 3(s)(2), 3(s)(5), and 13(a)(2)(iv) of the prior Act provide for the exclusion of “excise taxes at the retail level which are separately stated” in computing the gross annual volume of sales or business or the annual dollar volume of sales for purposes of certain of the provisions contained in those sections. The Senate Committee report states as follows with respect to this provision:
* * * in determining whether the enterprise or establishment, as the case may be, has the requisite annual dollar volume of sales, excise taxes will not be counted if they are taxes that are collected at the retail level and are separately identified in the price charged the customer for the goods or services at the time of the sale. Excise taxes which are levied at the manufacturer's, wholesaler's, or other distributive level will not be excluded in calculating the dollar volume of sales nor will excise taxes be excluded in cases where the customer is charged a single price for the merchandise or services and the taxes are not separately identified when the sale is made. (S. Rept., 145, 87th Cong., first session, p. 39.)
In applying the above rules to determine annual gross volume of sales or business under section 3(s) or annual dollar volume of sales for purposes of the $250,000 test under section 13(a)(2), excise taxes which (a) are levied at the retail level and (b) are separately stated and identified in the charge to the customer at the time of sale need not be included in the calculation of the gross or dollar volume of sales. Excise taxes which are levied at the manufacturer's, wholesaler's or other distributive level will not, ordinarily, be excluded in calculating the volume of sales, nor will excise taxes, even if levied at the retail level, be excluded in cases where the customer is charged a single price for the merchandise or services and the taxes are not separately identified when the sale is made. Excise taxes will be excludable whether they are levied by the Federal, State, or local government provided that the tax is “levied at the retail level” and “separately stated”.