How Patriot Fuels Cut Tax Reporting Time by 93% and Avoided an Estimated $20K in Penalties

The Company

Patriot Fuels USA, an Alabama-based fuel supplier and fueling-center operator providing gasoline, diesel, and recreational motor fuels to customers across the Southeast, was managing recurring excise tax with reporting software and a lean internal team.

Stacie Walker, Director of Marketing / Excise Tax, manages all 11 monthly excise tax filings and two quarterly filings in six states while also supporting other business responsibilities, including payroll and HR.

The Challenge

Patriot’s tax reporting process had become heavily dependent on manual review and correction. Walker regularly encountered reporting errors, including dyed diesel reported as undyed, gallons assigned to the wrong categories, missing information, and transactions duplicated two or three times.

“There were tons of amendments, all the time,” said Walker. “I would have to manually go through my spreadsheet, collect all the BOLs (bill of lading), and work through it one-by-one.”

Each error created additional work. Walker had to trace transactions back to source documentation, identify what went wrong, correct the reporting, and prepare amendments while keeping upcoming filings on schedule.

The consequences extended beyond rework. When reporting issues delayed a return, Patriot faced significant penalties. Walker estimated the company incurred roughly $20,000 in penalties annually due to filing delays. In Florida, she said, filing even one day late could result in a $5,000 penalty.

Getting help resolving those reporting issues was another challenge.

“You couldn’t get our tax reporting company on the phone. And when you did, you would go from one person to the next and really get no help.”

For Walker, managing the manual corrections, recurring amendments, filing deadlines, and penalty exposure became increasingly stressful.

“It was keeping me up at night,” Walker said.

Patriot needed a tax reporting process that could improve filing accuracy, reduce amendments and penalty exposure, and provide knowledgeable support when an issue needed to be resolved.

The Solution

Patriot implemented IGEN Tax Reporting to create a faster, more reliable excise tax reporting process with less manual correction.

“I get filing done accurately and quickly with IGEN, what used to take me 16 hours now takes only one hour because I’m not drowning in manual work,” said Walker. “I upload our data, review the results, and move the filing forward”.

The ease of the reporting process was only part of what mattered. Patriot also wanted access to a team that could provide answers when an issue did arise.

With IGEN, they can reach out directly for help, receive guidance on the issue, and continue with the filing rather than spending hours troubleshooting independently.

“They help me out,” said Walker. “The team is knowledgeable, organized, responsive, and quick to help resolve issues.”

For Patriot, that combination of streamlined tax reporting technology and accessible expertise created a more dependable way to keep filings moving.

The Impact

With IGEN Tax Reporting, Patriot Fuels USA has:

• Reduced tax reporting time by an estimated 93% from 16 hours to one hour monthly
• Reduced amendments by an estimated 90%
• Avoided an estimated $20,000 in penalties per year
• Reduced manual review of spreadsheets and BOLs
• Freed internal capacity for payroll, benefits, and other business responsibilities
• Gained direct access to knowledgeable tax reporting support