Who actually bears the burden of a tax--the "tax incidence"--is not necessarily the same as who the governments says will pay the tax.
It doesn't matter if the tax is levied on the seller or the buyer--to determine who pays the tax we must look at the elasticity of demand and supply.
Excise Tax on Consumers
When the price elasticity of demand is low and the price elasticity of supply is high the burden of an excise tax falls mainly on consumers--(example: gas, cigarettes, alcohol)
Excise Tax on Producers
When the price elasticity of demand is high and the price elasticity of supply is low---the burden of an excise tax falls mainly on producers.
An example are houses buyers can choose to move to other towns (elasticity of demand is high); sellers must sell their house because of job transfers or other reasons (elasticity of supply is low). Therefore taxes on home purchases are actually paid mainly by the sellers--not the buyers.
General Rule: When the price elasticity of demand is higher than the price elasticity of supply, an excise tax falls mainly on the producers. When the price elasticity of supply is higher than the price elasticity of demand, an excise tax falls mainly on consumers.
More Microeconomics notes...
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