| U.S. Historical Excise Tax Collections by Federal Government (All dollar amounts are in millions of U.S. dollars)[1][2][3][4][5][6] |
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| Year | Tariff Income |
Receipts % Tariff |
Federal Receipts |
Income Tax |
Payroll Tax |
Receipts % Excise |
| 1792 | $4.4 | 95.0% | $4.6 | $- | $- | 4.7% |
| 1795 | $5.6 | 91.6% | $6.1 | $- | $- | 5.5% |
| 1800 | $9.1 | 83.7% | $10.8 | $- | $- | 7.5% |
| 1805 | $12.9 | 95.4% | $13.6 | $- | $- | 0.2% |
| 1810 | $8.6 | 91.5% | $9.4 | $- | $- | 1.1% |
| 1815 | $7.3 | 46.4% | $15.7 | $- | $- | 29.7% |
| 1820 | $15.0 | 83.9% | $17.9 | $- | $- | 0.6% |
| 1825 | $20.1 | 97.9% | $20.5 | $- | $- | 0.1% |
| 1830 | $21.9 | 88.2% | $24.8 | $- | $- | 0.0% |
| 1835 | $19.4 | 54.1% | $35.8 | $- | $- | 0.0% |
| 1840 | $12.5 | 64.2% | $19.5 | $- | $- | 0.0% |
| 1845 | $27.5 | 91.9% | $30.0 | $- | $- | 0.0% |
| 1850 | $39.7 | 91.0% | $43.6 | $- | $- | 0.0% |
| 1855 | $53.0 | 81.2% | $65.4 | $- | $- | 0.0% |
| 1860 | $53.2 | 94.9% | $56.1 | $- | $- | 0.0% |
| 1863 | $63.0 | 55.9% | $112.7 | $- | $- | 0.0% |
| 1864 | $102.3 | 38.7% | $264.6 | $- | $- | 0.0% |
| 1865 | $84.9 | 25.4% | $333.7 | $61.0 | $- | 63.2% |
| 1870 | $194.5 | 47.3% | $411.3 | $37.8 | $- | 44.7% |
| 1875 | $157.2 | 54.6% | $288.0 | $- | $- | 38.2% |
| 1880 | $184.5 | 55.3% | $333.5 | $- | $- | 37.2% |
| 1885 | $181.5 | 56.1% | $323.7 | $- | $- | 34.7% |
| 1890 | $229.7 | 57.0% | $403.1 | $- | $- | 35.4% |
| 1900 | $233.2 | 41.1% | $567.2 | $- | $- | 51.0% |
| 1910 | $233.7 | 34.6% | $675.2 | $- | $- | 42.8% |
| 1913 | $318.8 | 44.0% | $724.1 | $35.0 | $- | 47.5% |
| 1915 | $209.8 | 30.1% | $697.9 | $47.0 | $- | 59.5% |
| 1916 | $213.7 | 27.3% | $782.5 | $121.0 | $- | 0.0% |
| 1917 | $225.9 | 20.1% | $1,124.3 | $373.0 | $- | 0.0% |
| 1918 | $947.0 | 25.8% | $3,664.6 | $2,720.0 | $- | 0.0% |
| 1920 | $886.0 | 13.2% | $6,694.6 | $4,032.0 | $- | 0.0% |
| 1925 | $547.6 | 14.5% | $3,780.1 | $1,697.0 | $- | 0.0% |
| 1928 | $566.0 | 14.0% | $4,042.3 | $2,088.0 | $- | 13.3% |
| 1930 | $587.0 | 14.1% | $4,177.9 | $2,300.0 | $- | 13.5% |
| 1935 | $318.8 | 8.4% | $3,800.5 | $1,100.0 | $- | 35.9% |
| 1940 | $331.0 | 6.1% | $5,387.1 | $2,100.0 | $800.0 | 34.2% |
| 1942 | $369.0 | 2.9% | $12,799.1 | $7,900.0 | $1,200.0 | 32.5% |
| 1944 | $417.0 | 0.9% | $44,148.9 | $34,400.0 | $1,900.0 | 13.1% |
| 1946 | $424.0 | 0.9% | $46,400.0 | $28,000.0 | $1,900.0 | 15.1% |
| 1948 | $408.0 | 0.9% | $47,300.0 | $29,000.0 | $2,500.0 | 15.6% |
| 1950 | $407.0 | 0.9% | $43,800.0 | $26,200.0 | $3,000.0 | 17.2% |
| 1951 | $609.0 | 1.1% | $56,700.0 | $35,700.0 | $4,100.0 | 15.3% |
| 1955 | $585.0 | 0.8% | $71,900.0 | $46,400.0 | $6,100.0 | 12.7% |
| 1960 | $1,105.0 | 1.1% | $99,800.0 | $62,200.0 | $12,200.0 | 11.7% |
| 1965 | $1,442.0 | 1.2% | $116,800.0 | $74,300.0 | $22,200.0 | 12.5% |
| 1970 | $2,430.0 | 1.3% | $192,800.0 | $123,200.0 | $44,400.0 | 8.1% |
| 1975 | $3,676.0 | 1.3% | $279,100.0 | $163,000.0 | $84,500.0 | 5.9% |
| 1980 | $7,174.0 | 1.4% | $517,100.0 | $308,700.0 | $157,800.0 | 4.7% |
| 1985 | $12,079.0 | 1.6% | $734,000.0 | $395,900.0 | $255,200.0 | 4.9% |
| 1990 | $11,500.0 | 1.1% | $1,032,000.0 | $560,400.0 | $380,000.0 | 3.4% |
| 1995 | $19,301.0 | 1.4% | $1,361,000.0 | $747,200.0 | $484,500.0 | 4.2% |
| 2000 | $19,914.0 | 1.0% | $2,025,200.0 | $1,211,700.0 | $652,900.0 | 3.4% |
| 2005 | $23,379.0 | 1.1% | $2,153,600.0 | $1,205,500.0 | $794,100.0 | 3.4% |
| 2010 | $25,298.0 | 1.2% | $2,162,700.0 | $1,090,000.0 | $864,800.0 | 3.1% |
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| Notes: All dollar amounts are in millions of U.S. dollars Income taxes include Individual and Corporate taxes Federal expenditures often exceed Revenue by temporary borrowings. Initially the U.S. Federal Government was financed mainly by customs(tariffs Average excise % is calculated by dividing Excise Revenue by Total Revenue. Other taxes collected are: Income Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Inheritance, Tariffs—often called Customs or duties on imports, etc. Income Taxes began in 1913 with the passage of 16th Amendment. Payroll taxes are Social Security and Medicare taxes Payroll Taxes began in 1940. Many Federal government Excise taxes are assigned to Trust Funds and are collected for and “dedicated” to a particular Trust. Sources: |
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| Part of a series on Taxation |
| Taxation in the United States |
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| Federal taxation |
| Authority · History Internal Revenue Service (Court • Forms • Code • Revenue) Taxpayer standing Income tax · Payroll tax Alternative Minimum Tax Estate tax · Excise tax Gift tax · Corporate tax Capital gains tax |
| State and local taxation |
| State income tax State tax levels Sales tax · Use tax Property tax Land value tax |
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Taxation by country
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Excise tax in the United States is an indirect tax on listed items. Excise taxes can be and are made by federal, state and local governments and are far from uniform throughout the United States. Excise taxes are collected by the producer or retailer and not paid directly by the consumer, and as such often remain "hidden" in the price of a product or service, rather than being listed separately. This is thought to explain their appeal to many politicians.
Contents |
The U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1789, gave the federal government authority to tax, stating that Congress has the power to
Tariffs between states are prohibited by the U.S. Constitution and all domestically made products can be imported or shipped to another state tax free. In the U.S. constitutional law sense, an excise tax is essentially an event tax[11] (as opposed to a state of being tax).
Federal Excise taxes have a storied background in the United States. Responding to an urgent need for revenue following the American Revolutionary War, after passage of the U.S. Constitution the First United States Congress passed, and President George Washington, signed the Tariff Act of July 4, 1789, which authorized the collection of duties on imported goods. Customs duties as set by tariff rates up to 1860 were usually about 80-95% of all federal revenue. Having just fought a war over taxation (among other things) the U.S. Congress wanted a reliable source of income that was relatively unobtrusive and easy to collect. Tariffs and excise taxes were authorized by the United States Constitution and recommended by the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton in 1789 to tax foreign imports and set up low excise taxes to provide the Federal Government with enough money to pay its operating expenses and to redeem at full value U.S. Federal debts and the debts the states had accumulated during the American Revolutionary War. Hamilton thought it was important to start the U.S. Federal government out on a sound financial basis with good credit. The first Federal budget was about $4.6 million dollars and the population in the 1790 U.S. Census was about four million. Hence the average federal tax was about $1/person per year. Then tradesmen earned about $0.25 a day for a 10-12 hour day so federal taxes could be paid with about four days work. Paying even this was usually optional as taxed imports listed on the tariff lists could usually be avoided if desired.
The Congress set low excise taxes on only a few goods, such as, whiskey, rum, tobacco, snuff and refined sugar. There were initially no other significant sources of federal income besides tariffs. The excise tax on whiskey was so despised it led to the Whiskey Rebellion which had to be quelled by Washington calling up the Militia and repressing the rebellious farmers--all were later pardoned. The whiskey excise tax collected so little and was so despised it was abolished by President Thomas Jefferson in 1802. In the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 the imports to the United States plummeted and the Congress in 1812 brought back the excise tax on whiskey to compensate for the loss of customs revenue. Within a few years customs duties (tariff) brought in enough federal income to again abolish nearly all federal excise taxes. When the United States public debt was finally paid off in 1834 President Andrew Jackson kept the excise tax zeroed out and reduced the customs duties (tariffs) in half.
Excise taxes stayed essentially zero till the U.S. Civil War brought a need for much more federal revenue. Excise taxes were reintroduced on a wider range of items and Income taxes (later declared unconstitutional) were introduced. By about 1916 the loans taken out during the Civil War were all paid off and the excise taxes were again set very low. On January 16, 1919 the 18th Amendment was passed and alcohol production, sale and transport were essentially prohibited. Taxing alcohol products would have produced almost no income. Excise taxes remained essentially zero for the next ten years.
During the Great Depression (1929-1939) President Franklin Roosevelt and Congress started reintroducing excise taxes to increase federal income which had dropped because of the much lower income tax collections. On December 5, 1933 the 21st Amendment was ratified and alcohol production became legal again. The healthy excise tax[12] on now legal alcoholic beverages paid about one-third of all federal taxes during the Great Depression.
Excise taxes now have become an established part of the general budget as well as the source of funds for various trusts. The U.S. has expanded the definition of items on the excise tax lists as trusts for highways, airports, vaccines, black lung, oil spills, etc. have been set up. These are financed by excise taxes on fuels, tickets, vaccines, coal, oil etc.
| U.S. Excise Collections 2010 by Federal Government[13] (All dollar amounts are in millions of U.S. dollars) |
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| 2010 Excise Taxes |
Millions | Percent |
| Alcohol | $9,229.0 | 13.8% |
| Tobacco | $17,160.0 | 25.6% |
| Telephone | $993.0 | 1.5% |
| Transportation fuels | $(11,030.0) | -16.5% |
| Other | $1,904.0 | 2.8% |
| Total | $18,256.0 | 27.3% |
| Trust funds: | ||
| Transportation | $34,992.0 | 52.3% |
| Airport and airway | $10,612.0 | 15.9% |
| Black lung disability | $595.0 | 0.9% |
| Inland waterway | $74.0 | 0.1% |
| Oil spill liability | $476.0 | 0.7% |
| Aquatic resources | $580.0 | 0.9% |
| Leaking underground storage tank | $169.0 | 0.3% |
| Tobacco Assessments | $937.0 | 1.4% |
| Vaccine injury compensation | $218.0 | 0.3% |
| Total Trusts | $48,653.0 | 72.7% |
| Total, Excise Taxes | $66,909.0 | |
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| Notes: All dollar amounts are in millions of U.S. dollars Some Excise taxes are assigned to Trust Funds and are collected for and “dedicated” to the Trust. |
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Excise taxes are generally taxes on events like the purchase of a quantity of a particular item like: gasoline, diesel fuel, liquor, wine, cigarettes, airline tickets, tires, trucks, etc. and are usually included in the price of the item—not listed separately like sales taxes usually are. To minimize tax accounting complications, the excise tax is usually imposed on quantities like gallons of fuel, gallons of wine or drinking alcohol, packets of cigarettes, etc. and are usually paid initially by the manufacturer or retailer. All excise taxes are, of course, passed on to the consumer who eventually consumes the product. The price the item is eventually sold for is not generally considered in calculating the excise taxes. Income taxes, value added taxes (VATS), sales taxes, and transfer taxes are all examples of other event taxes but are typically not called excise taxes (in the U.S.) because of the different ways they are assessed. In the U.S. essentially the only taxes called excise taxes are the taxes on quantities of enumerated items (whiskey, wine, tobacco, gasoline, tires, etc.). Other events may technically be considered excise taxes but are seldom collected under that name. An example of a state of being tax is an ad valorem property tax—which is not an excise. Customs or tariffs are based on the property (usually imported goods) as a state of being or Ad-valorem taxes and are also typically not called excise taxes. Excise taxes are collected by producers and retailers and paid to the Internal Revenue Service or other state and/or local government tax collection agency. Historical federal excise tax collections to 1945 are listed in the Historical Statistics of the United States[14] and more recent federal excise tax data is listed in the White House historical tables--Table 2.1[15]
| U.S. 2010 Excise Tax Rates[16] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Tax Rate |
Measure | ||
| General Fund Excise taxes | ||||
| Small Cigarettes | $1.01 | pkg 20 | ||
| Cigars, large | $0.40 | ea. cigar | ||
| Distilled Alcohol 80 proof | $2.14 | 750 ml | ||
| Wine 14% Alcohol or Less | $0.21 | 750 ml | ||
| Wine 14 to 21% | $0.31 | 750 ml | ||
| Wine 21 to 24% | $0.62 | 750 ml | ||
| Wine Sparkling | $0.67 | 750 ml | ||
| Wine Carbonated | $0.65 | 750 ml | ||
| Hard Cider | $0.04 | 750 ml | ||
| Beer | $0.05 | 12 oz | ||
| Pistols and Revolvers | 10% | price | ||
| Other Firearms and Ammunition | 11% | price | ||
| Tanning Salon | 10% | price | ||
| Gas guzzler 21.5-22.5 mpg | $1,000.00 | vehicle | ||
| Gas guzzler 12.5-13.5 mpg | $6,400.00 | vehicle | ||
| Telephone Calls | 3% | local | ||
| Wagering excise tax | 2.50% | wager | ||
| Black Lung Disability Trust | ||||
| Coal mined | $1.10 | ton | ||
| Coal mined | 4.40% | price | ||
| Coal open pit | $0.55 | ton | ||
| Coal open pit | 4.40% | price | ||
| Highway Trust Fund | ||||
| Gasoline | $0.183 | gallon | ||
| Diesel | $0.243 | gallon | ||
| Alcohol fuels | $0.183 | gallon | ||
| LPG fuel | $0.183 | gallon | ||
| LNG fuel | $0.243 | gallon | ||
| CNG fuel | $0.183 | gallon | ||
| Tires over 3,500 lb. rated wt. | $0.09 | 10# rated wt | ||
| Heavy Trucks | 12% | price | ||
| 55,000–75,000 lbs. capacity | $100.00 | truck/yr. | ||
| each 1000# over 55,000 | $22.00 | truck/yr. | ||
| over 75,000 # | $550.00 | truck/yr. | ||
| Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust | ||||
| Leaking Gas storage | .1 cent | gallon | ||
| Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund Excise | ||||
| Vaccine | $0.75 | dose | ||
| Water Transportation Passenger excise tax | ||||
| Ship voyage | $3.00 | passenger | ||
| Land and Water Conservation Trust Fund | ||||
| Ship fuel | $0.20 | gallon | ||
| Oil Spill fund | ||||
| Oil | $0.08 | barrel | ||
| Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund | ||||
| Harbor Maintenance | 0.13% | cargo | ||
| Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund | ||||
| Sport Fishing gear | 10% | price | ||
| Boat Gasoline | $0.183 | gallon | ||
| Boat Diesel | $0.243 | gallon | ||
| Airport and Airway Trust Fund | ||||
| Airline Ticket | 7.50% | price | ||
| International Ticket | $16.30 | ea. | ||
| Air Cargo | 6.25% | charges | ||
| Comm. Aviation kerosene | $0.043 | gallon | ||
| Jet Fuel | $0.218 | gallon | ||
| Aviation gasoline | $0.194 | gallon | ||
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| Notes: Some Excise taxes are assigned to Trust Funds and are collected for and “dedicated” to the Trust. |
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For purposes of the U.S. Constitution, an excise tax can be defined as any indirect tax, or event tax. An excise means any tax other than: (1) a property tax or Ad-valorem tax by reason of its ownership; (2) a tax per head tax or capitation tax by being present (very rare in the U.S.); (3) an income tax paid directly to the government on income; or a (4) sales tax which is paid on all sales except specifically exempted items. An excise is imposed on listed specific taxable events or products and are usually not collected or paid directly by the consumer--a direct tax. Excise taxes are collected by the producer or retailer and paid by them to the Internal Revenue Service, state or local tax agency. Of course the consumer ultimately pays the excise tax which is added to the price of the product when it is sold. Often sales taxes are collected as a percentage of the cost of the product and its excise tax--a tax on a tax.
Traditionally the Federal government has left property taxes and sales taxes to the states and local governments for their revenue. Tariffs or Customs duties on imported goods are essentially the only property tax imposed by the U.S. Federal government. Tariffs can only be set by the Federal government and not by any state or local jurisdiction. For U.S. constitutional law purposes, a customs duty or tariff is nominally in a separate category from an excise tax. Excise taxes can be (and are) set by other government tax jurisdictions like: federal, states and local.
In the United States, the term "excise" usually means: any tax other than a sales tax, property tax, capitation tax or income tax (i.e., a direct tax in the constitutional law sense). Many taxes are simply called an excise tax in the statute imposing that tax (an excise in the statutory law sense) even though they could more accurately be called some other kind of tax. A collection of different taxes have accumulated over the years under the excise tax classification.
Often trust funds do not collect enough taxes because of assumptions that the politicians made in setting the excise tax rates and allowable trust fund projects result in underfunding. Changing consumer purchases have made the original assumptions wrong which may also result in underfunding. Because many of the funds are allocated to repay bonds and other long term projects, they often require an infusion of general funds to stay solvent. Long term adjustments of tax rates or a less extensive list of allowable trust fund projects to keep the funds solvent require bi-partisan agreements, which are obviously rare.
The excise taxes on alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and firearms are administered under the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in the United States Department of the Treasury.[17] The total excise taxes on gasoline, diesel etc. for each state have been calculated.[18] The differing excise taxes in each state on fuels are given in the wikipedia article Fuel taxes in the United States. The differing excise taxes in each state on cigarettes are given in the wikipedia article Cigarette taxes in the United States.
Federal Trust Fund excise tax collections are often remitted to each state by complicated allocation plans. The Highway Trust fund moneys are split between highways and transit systems. The Highway Account normally receives about 85% of all highway trust fund taxes, and the Mass Transit Account receives about 15% of all Highway Trust Fund excise tax collections.[19] The Highway Trust Fund may well require tax rate adjustments to stay solvent and make up for the increased car mileage dictated by the EPA or the increased use of untaxed electric vehicles. As fuel prices increase, there is a slow decrease in gallons of fuel bought as vehicles are made more efficient and/or travel smaller distances all of which reduce Highway Trust Fund collections. Federal funding of the Highway Trust Fund is restricted for use on capital expenditures, such as construction and reconstruction of roads, bridges or tunnels, or payment of bonds sold to finance the work. The bulk of funding is for specific programs set up to channel aid to the States for a variety of uses, such as providing capital funding for the Nation’s most heavily used roads, maintaining interstates, and fixing bridges. Regular maintenance on non-interstate roads, including pothole patching and snowplowing, must be funded through other sources. Funding often requires a partial dollar match by the states. The Mass Transit Account which gets its funding from a fraction of the excise taxes imposed on fuels, etc. has similar restrictions.
The term "excise" also has a statutory law meaning. Generally, in the United States any statute that imposes a tax specifically denominated as an "excise" is an excise tax law. U.S. Federal statutory excises are (or have been) imposed under Subtitle D ("miscellaneous excise taxes") and Subtitle E ("Alcohol, Tobacco, and Certain Other Excise Taxes") of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 4001 through 26 U.S.C. § 5891, relating to such things as luxury passenger automobiles, heavy trucks and trailers, "gas guzzler" vehicles, tires, petroleum products, coal, vaccines, recreational equipment, firearms (see National Firearms Act), communications services (see Telephone federal excise tax), air transportation, policies issued by foreign insurance companies, wagering, water transportation, removal of hard mineral resources from deep seabeds, chemicals, certain imported substances, non-deductible contributions to certain employer plans, and many other subjects. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts charges what it calls an "excise tax" on all vehicles, even though this is, in fact, an ad valorem tax.
Excise duties usually have one or two purposes: to raise revenue and to discourage particular behavior or purchase of particular items. Taxes such as those on sales of fuel, alcohol and tobacco are often "justified" on both grounds. Some economists suggest that the optimal revenue raising taxes should be levied on sales of items having an inelastic demand, while behavior altering taxes should be levied where demand is elastic. Most items on the excise tax lists are relatively inelastic "addictions" with only long term elasticity.
One of the most common excises in the United States is the cigarette tax imposed by both the states and federal governments. This tax is simply a excise tax applied to each pack of cigarettes. Specifically, the federal government uniformly charges an excise tax of $1.01 for a standard pack of 20 cigarettes. On top of the federal tax, all 50 states levy a different cigarette tax that ranges from $0.17 per pack in Missouri to $4.35 per pack in New York.[20] Overall, the excise taxes constitute most of the retail cost of cigarettes. Cigarette taxes can be avoided in some jurisdictions if the consumer purchases loose tobacco and cigarette paper separately or by purchase of cigarettes from lower taxed states.
Excise taxes can be imposed and collected at the point of production or importation, or at the point of sale and then remitted to the Internal Revenue Service or state or local taxing agency. Often some excise taxes are collected by the federal government and then remitted to the states on a partially matching basis to pay for particular items like interstate highway construction, airport construction or bridge repairs. Excise taxes are usually waived or refunded on goods being exported, so as to encourage exports. Smugglers and other tax avoiders will often seek to obtain items at a point at which they are not taxed or taxed much lower and then later sell or use them at a price lower than the post-tax price in their jurisdiction.
For similar items, excise duties are the same for imported and domestically produced goods; if the tax is different, then there is an explicit or implicit customs duty or tariff.
An unusual example of a state "excise" tax is found in the State of Hawaii. In lieu of a sales tax, the State of Hawaii imposes a tax called a General Excise Tax, or GET, on all business activity in the State. The GET is charged at a rate of 4% for most businesses and 0.5% for wholesalers. The tax is imposed on all business entities, so in essence, the tax is collected at every level of production (material supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer.) The GET is also charged on all business service activity such as real estate agent commissions, lawyer fees and the like. A more accurate tax term would be a value added tax or VAT.[21] With Hawaii's industry heavily dependent on tourism and tourist spending, the State regularly raises nearly half its government revenues through the imposition of the GET.[22] Hawaii's GET has been criticized for having a disproportionate impact on low-income families, owing to the fact it is charged on intermediary transactions (such as those between wholesaler and retailer) as well as services, resulting in a pyramiding effect as costs rise in relation to final retail prices.[23]
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), formed in 1886, is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).[24] Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention of federal offenses involving the unlawful use, manufacture, and possession of firearms and explosives; acts of arson and bombings; and illegal manufacturing and trafficking of alcohol and tobacco products that avoid paying the federal excise taxes on these products.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) within the United States Department of the Treasury is responsible for collecting the over one million excise tax returns that collects almost $70 billion dollars in excise taxes. IRS publication 510[25] lists all the forms, rates, rules etc. on federal excise tax collection. The IRS is authorized to sue people who violate the excise tax rules and have them incarcerated.
Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language defined excise in 1755 as A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.