Texas Sales Tax Permit in 2026: Who Needs One, How to Apply and What Comes Next

If you plan to sell goods in Texas, whether from a boutique in San Antonio, a food truck in Austin or an online store shipping to Houston, you need a Texas sales and use tax permit before your first taxable sale. The permit is free, the application takes about half an hour online, and the rules after you get it are where most small businesses slip. This guide covers who needs a permit, how to apply through the Texas Comptroller, when you may be asked for a security bond, how filing frequency is set, which local rate to charge, and how resale certificates work. Every figure was checked against Comptroller pages and the Texas Administrative Code in October 2026.

Quick answer

A Texas sales and use tax permit is free from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. You need one if you are engaged in business in Texas and sell, lease or rent taxable goods or sell taxable services. Apply online through eSystems, and allow 2–3 weeks for the permit to arrive. You then collect the 6.25% state rate plus up to 2% local tax, a maximum of 8.25%.

• One permit per place of business, all under one taxpayer number

• Out-of-state sellers need one once Texas revenue reaches $500,000 in 12 months

• The Comptroller may require a security bond from some applicants

• Returns are due the 20th of the month after each period; filing on time earns a 0.5% discount

• Buy inventory tax-free with resale certificate Form 01-339

Who needs a Texas sales tax permit

You need a permit if you are engaged in business in Texas and you sell, lease or rent tangible personal property, or sell taxable services. That covers individuals, partnerships, corporations, LLCs and every other kind of business. Wholesalers need one too, even though most of their sales are for resale, and so do businesses that sell at events or from a home.

"Engaged in business" is broad. The Comptroller treats you as engaged in business if you have a location in Texas, if an employee or representative sells or takes orders in the state, if your employees, agents or subcontractors perform services in Texas, or if you do business in the state in any other way. A single sales rep working from home in Dallas is enough to put an out-of-state company on the hook.

Texas taxes more services than many states. Alongside retail goods, the tax applies to services such as amusement services, cable television, data processing, information services, repair and remodeling of nonresidential real property, security services, telecommunications and motor vehicle parking. If you provide any of these, you need a permit even if you never sell a physical product. A plumber who only repairs homes, a consultant or a freelance writer usually does not.

You need a separate permit for each place of business in Texas. A place of business is a location where you receive three or more orders for taxable items in a calendar year, so an office, shop or outlet counts, while a warehouse or plant that never receives orders does not. Every location shares your taxpayer number and gets its own outlet number.

Sellers at fairs, festivals, flea markets and craft shows need a regular permit if they sell taxable items there, including out-of-state sellers. The Comptroller's guide for event sellers does not describe a separate event-only permit. Promoters are also liable for tax on sales by vendors who do not hold an active permit, so expect to show yours when you set up.

The main exception is the occasional sale. An individual who sells only one or two taxable items in a 12-month period, or who sells personal or family items worth no more than $3,000 in a calendar year, such as at a garage sale, does not need a permit. The exemption does not cover booth sellers at flea markets or craft shows run by a third party that charges a space fee.

Out-of-state and online sellers: the $500,000 rule

A remote seller, meaning one with no physical presence in Texas, does not need a permit while its total Texas revenue stays under $500,000 in the preceding twelve calendar months. Total revenue means everything you sell into Texas: taxable and nontaxable sales, plus separately stated shipping, handling and installation charges. Texas has no transaction-count test.

Once you cross the threshold, you must get a permit and start collecting use tax no later than the first day of the fourth month after the month you crossed it. A Colorado candle maker whose rolling 12-month Texas revenue passes $500,000 in March 2026 must be registered and collecting by July 1, 2026.

Texas permit numbers at a glance (2026)

Free

Permit fee

Security may be required

2–3 weeks

Processing time

Online through eSystems

$500,000

Remote seller threshold

Preceding 12 calendar months

1.75%

Single local use tax rate

Remote sellers who elect it

Remote sellers get a simplification. Instead of working out the local rate for every delivery address, they can elect the single local use tax rate, currently 1.75%, by filing Form 01-799. The rate is published each year by January 1. That Colorado seller would then charge 6.25% plus 1.75%, a flat 8%, on every Texas order: $16 on a $200 order, whether it ships to Houston or a small town with lower local taxes. Businesses with a Texas location cannot use this rate.

If you sell only through a marketplace provider, such as Amazon, Etsy or eBay, that certifies it collects and pays Texas tax on your behalf, you do not need a permit for those sales. You still need to keep records of marketplace sales for at least four years, and once you add a direct channel, such as your own website, the threshold test applies to your total Texas revenue.

How to apply for a Texas sales tax permit

Most businesses apply online through the Comptroller's eSystems, using the Texas Online Tax Registration Application. You must be at least 18; a parent or guardian can apply for a minor. Paper applications use Form AP-201, which you can email to the Comptroller's sales tax applications address, fax or mail. Anyone who has no Social Security number, such as a non-US owner, officer or director, must use Form AP-201 rather than the online system.

You do not need a federal EIN to apply; a sole owner can use a Social Security number. Have these ready before you start, because the session can time out:

• the Social Security number of a sole owner, or the SSN or EIN of each partner
• for a corporation or LLC, the file number from the Texas Secretary of State and the SSN of each officer, director or managing member
• the NAICS code that describes your main activity
• your business name, mailing address and the physical address of each location
• the date you will start selling and an estimate of your monthly taxable sales

Allow 2–3 weeks to receive the permit. Your approval letter tells you whether you will file monthly, quarterly or, with authorization, yearly. Post the permit at your place of business.

How to get your Texas permit

1. 1

   Form your business entity if you want one

   LLCs and corporations file a Certificate of Formation with the Texas Secretary of State first, and you need the SOS file number for the permit application. Sole proprietors can skip this.

   How to register an LLC
2. 2

   Log in to eSystems

   Create a Comptroller eSystems account and choose the sales and use tax permit application.

   Tip: The permit is free. Sites charging a 'Texas sellers permit fee' are private filing services.

   Apply for a permit
3. 3

   Enter owners, locations and products

   List every owner or officer, every Texas location that will take orders, your NAICS code and your expected sales.

4. 4

   Respond to any security request

   If the Comptroller requires security, you will receive instructions and the amount before the permit is issued.

5. 5

   Receive your permit and filing schedule

   Allow 2–3 weeks. Post the permit and note your monthly, quarterly or yearly filing schedule.

Security bonds: when the Comptroller asks for one

The permit has no fee, but the Comptroller can require security from an applicant, and from any permit holder who becomes delinquent, to protect the state if tax goes unpaid. The rule, 34 Texas Administrative Code §3.327, says an applicant may be required to post a bond or other security equal to the greater of $100,000 or four times the average monthly tax liability. For an itinerant vendor, someone with no fixed place of business, the minimum is $500.

The wording is discretionary: an applicant "may be required" to post security, and the Comptroller decides case by case. The rule itself is aimed at protecting the state where tax could go unpaid, and it applies in full to permit holders who fall behind on payments, so a clean filing record is the best way to avoid a bond later. The Comptroller accepts several forms of security: a surety bond, cash, an assignment of a federally insured bank, savings and loan or credit union account, a bank letter of credit, or US Treasury bonds. If you are asked for security, a field office can explain the amount and whether it can be reduced later once you build a record of filing and paying on time.

Texas sales tax rates and which local rate to charge

The state rate is 6.25%. Cities, counties, special purpose districts and transit authorities can add local taxes, but the total local tax on a sale can never exceed 2%, so no Texas sale carries more than 8.25%. Most large cities, including Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, are at the 8.25% maximum. Rural areas outside city limits can be lower, sometimes just the state rate plus a county tax.

Texas uses origin-based sourcing for sellers based in the state. If a customer buys in person at your store, you charge the local tax where the store is. If the order is received at your Texas place of business and fulfilled from it, the sale is sourced there too, even if you deliver it across town. When you deliver into a jurisdiction with a local tax your location does not have, you may also owe local use tax for that jurisdiction, but only up to the 2% cap, collected in a set order: city, then county, then special purpose districts, then transit.

The Comptroller's own examples make this clearer. A seller whose location carries only a 0.5% county tax delivers an item to Ennis, which has a 1.5% city tax. The seller adds 1.5% Ennis city use tax, for a total of 8.25%. If the same seller delivers to Waxahachie, with a 2% city tax, adding it would breach the cap, so no Waxahachie use tax is collected and the total stays at 6.75%. Use the Comptroller's Sales Tax Rate Locator to find the rate for any address.

Worked examples in dollars

A boutique in Houston sells an $80 dress across the counter. At 8.25%, the tax is $6.60 and the customer pays $86.60. If the same boutique sells a $350 leather jacket to a customer who walks in from Louisiana, it is still a Houston sale, so the tax is $28.88.

A furniture maker whose shop sits outside any city, with only a 0.5% county tax, delivers a $2,400 dining table to a customer in Ennis. The tax is 6.25% state, 0.5% county and 1.5% Ennis city use tax, a total of 8.25%, or $198. Delivered to Waxahachie instead, the city use tax cannot be added, so the total is 6.75%, or $162.

Discounts reward filing on time. A monthly filer that collected $3,000 of tax in September and files and pays by October 20 keeps a 0.5% timely filing discount, $15. Prepaying a reasonable estimate before the due date adds another 1.25%, for a total discount of 1.75%, or $52.50. The same business filing 10 days late would lose the discount, pay a $50 late report penalty and a 5% late payment penalty of $150, for $200 in extra cost. Interest starts 61 days after the due date.

Try it — Texas sales tax on a $1,000 sale in Houston

Purchase AmountState

Alabama (4%)Alaska (0%)Arizona (5.6%)Arkansas (6.5%)California (7.25%)Colorado (2.9%)Connecticut (6.35%)Delaware (0%)Florida (6%)Georgia (4%)Hawaii (4%)Idaho (6%)Illinois (6.25%)Indiana (7%)Iowa (6%)Kansas (6.5%)Kentucky (6%)Louisiana (5%)Maine (5.5%)Maryland (6%)Massachusetts (6.25%)Michigan (6%)Minnesota (6.875%)Mississippi (7%)Missouri (4.225%)Montana (0%)Nebraska (5.5%)Nevada (6.85%)New Hampshire (0%)New Jersey (6.625%)New Mexico (4.875%)New York (4%)North Carolina (4.75%)North Dakota (5%)Ohio (5.75%)Oklahoma (4.5%)Oregon (0%)Pennsylvania (6%)Rhode Island (7%)South Carolina (6%)South Dakota (4.2%)Tennessee (7%)Texas (6.25%)Utah (6.1%)Vermont (6%)Virginia (5.3%)Washington (6.5%)West Virginia (6%)Wisconsin (5%)Wyoming (4%)

Local / County Rate

Purchase Amount$1,000.00

State Tax (6.25%)$62.50

Local Tax (2%)$20.00

Combined Rate8.25%

Total Amount (Including Tax)$1,082.50

Open the full Sales Tax Calculator (PDF, save, compare)

Filing frequency, due dates and penalties

The Comptroller sets your filing frequency based on how much state sales and use tax you report. Under 34 TAC §3.286, a permit holder reporting $1,500 or more of state tax per quarter must file monthly, unless it prepays. Those reporting less than $1,500 a quarter can file quarterly. Those with less than $1,000 of state tax for the whole calendar year can file yearly, but only with the Comptroller's authorization, and that authority ends automatically if annual tax goes over $1,000.

In sales terms, $1,500 of state tax a quarter is about $24,000 of taxable sales a quarter, or $8,000 a month, at the 6.25% state rate. A small craft business with $12,000 of taxable sales a year would owe $750 of state tax and could qualify for yearly filing.

Every return is due on the 20th of the month after the period ends. Quarterly returns are due April 20, July 20, October 20 and January 20. Yearly returns are due January 20. If the 20th falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the next working day applies. You must file even when you made no sales, and businesses with no taxable sales for a period can file through Telefile. Most businesses use Webfile; those that paid $50,000 or more in the prior state fiscal year cannot file on paper, and those that paid $500,000 or more must pay through EDI or TEXNET.

Penalties are straightforward. Each late report costs $50. Tax paid one to 30 days late carries a 5% penalty, and tax more than 30 days late 10%. Interest begins 61 days after the due date.

Texas sales tax due dates for quarterly filers

April 20

January–March return and payment

July 20

April–June return and payment

October 20

July–September return and payment

January 20

October–December return; also the yearly return for authorized yearly filers

Resale certificates: Form 01-339

Once you hold a permit, you can buy items you will resell without paying tax by giving the seller a Texas Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate, Form 01-339. You fill in your name, address, Texas taxpayer number, a description of the items and a statement that you will resell them in the regular course of business. Handing over a copy of your permit or quoting your permit number is not enough; the Comptroller says the permit is not a substitute for the certificate.

If you buy only for resale from a supplier, you can give a blanket certificate covering all future purchases. If you buy a mix, such as a café buying coffee beans to resell and cleaning supplies to use, you must tell the supplier which items are for resale. Out-of-state buyers can issue a Texas resale certificate when the items will be resold in the United States or Mexico.

Sellers who accept certificates must check that each one is complete and that the item makes sense for the buyer's business, and keep the certificate for four years. A restaurant supply store that accepts a resale certificate for a commercial oven from a hair salon should question it.

Misuse is a criminal matter in Texas. If you buy something tax-free on a resale certificate and use it yourself, you owe the tax. If you misuse a certificate knowingly to evade tax, the offense ranges from a Class C misdemeanor when less than $20 of tax was evaded to a second-degree felony at $20,000 or more.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

The most common mistake is changing the business structure and keeping the old permit. Texas permits are not transferable. If you incorporate, form an LLC, add a partner or sell the business, the new owner needs a new permit; tax collected under the wrong permit causes mismatched accounts and notices. Apply for the new permit before the change takes effect and close the old one.

The second is opening a second location without adding it. Each place of business needs its own outlet. Tax reported under the wrong outlet can be allocated to the wrong city, and local governments do notice. Add the location through eSystems before it opens.

The third is charging the delivery address rate when you should be using your store's rate, or the reverse, and ignoring the 2% cap. Use the Rate Locator, and remember that a Texas seller's in-person sales are always sourced to the store.

The fourth is skipping returns during quiet months. Seasonal businesses still owe a return for every period, even at zero. Each missed return costs $50, and repeated delinquency is one of the triggers for a security bond.

If you realize you should have had a permit earlier, the Comptroller runs a voluntary disclosure program that can limit the look-back period and waive penalties for businesses that come forward before being contacted. That is almost always cheaper than waiting for an audit.

Before your first Texas sale

0/8

• Confirm you sell taxable goods or services and are engaged in business in Texas
• Form your LLC or corporation and note the SOS file number (if using one)
• Look up your NAICS code
• Apply free on eSystems or with Form AP-201
• Post the permit at each place of business
• Set the correct local rate in your POS with the Rate Locator
• Collect Form 01-339 from resellers and give one to your suppliers
• Calendar your filing dates (the 20th) and set up Webfile

Share Print

Official Texas links

• Apply for a sales and use tax permiteSystems and Form AP-201
• Sales and use tax overviewRates, due dates, discounts, penalties
• Sales Tax Rate LocatorRate for any Texas address
• Remote sellers$500,000 safe harbor and single local rate
• Resale certificate FAQ and Form 01-339
• Local sales and use tax collection guide

What to do next

If you are starting from scratch, form your business first: our guide to registering an LLC covers the Texas Certificate of Formation, and you will need a Texas registered agent for it. Then apply for your free permit, set up the right local rate, and diary the 20th of each filing month. Selling into other states too? Compare the rules in our California sales tax and Florida sales tax guides, check totals with the sales tax calculator, and send compliant invoices with the free invoice generator.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Texas sales tax permit cost?

The permit is free from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The Comptroller can, however, ask some applicants to post security, such as a surety bond or cash deposit, to protect the state against unpaid tax; you will get instructions if that applies to you. Websites that charge a fee are private filing services, not the state.

How long does it take to get a Texas sales tax permit?

The Comptroller says to allow 2–3 weeks to receive your permit after applying online through eSystems. Paper applications on Form AP-201 sent by email, fax or mail take longer. Apply before your first taxable sale, because you need the permit before you start selling and collecting tax.

Is a Texas sales tax permit the same as a resale certificate?

No. The sales tax permit authorizes you to sell taxable items and collect tax. A resale certificate, Form 01-339, is a document you give your supplier so you can buy inventory tax-free. You need the permit number to complete the certificate, but the Comptroller says a permit or permit number is not a substitute for a properly completed resale certificate.

Do I need a Texas sales tax permit if I sell online from another state?

Only if you are engaged in business in Texas or your total Texas revenue in the preceding twelve calendar months reaches $500,000. Remote sellers below that safe harbor do not need a permit. If you sell only through a marketplace such as Amazon or Etsy that collects Texas tax for you, you do not need a permit for those sales.

Does a Texas sales tax permit expire?

There is no renewal date or renewal fee. The permit stays valid for the owner and address on it as long as you remain in business and keep filing. It is not transferable: a new owner, a new legal entity such as an LLC replacing a sole proprietorship, or a cancelled permit all require a new application.

When are Texas sales tax returns due?

Returns are due on the 20th of the month after each period. Monthly filers file every month, quarterly filers on April 20, July 20, October 20 and January 20, and yearly filers on January 20. A late report costs $50, and late tax adds a 5% or 10% penalty.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 9 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Sales and Use Tax — Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · accessed 9 October 2026
2. 2.Sales and Use Tax Permit — apply — Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.Texas Sales and Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions — Permits — Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.Remote Sellers — Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.Local Sales and Use Tax Collection — A Guide for Sellers (94-105) — Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · accessed 9 October 2026
6. 6.Texas Sales and Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions — Resale Certificates — Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · accessed 9 October 2026
7. 7.Fairs, Festivals, Markets and Shows (96-211) — Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · accessed 9 October 2026
8. 8.34 Tex. Admin. Code § 3.286 — Seller's and Purchaser's Responsibilities — Legal Information Institute (Texas Administrative Code) · accessed 9 October 2026
9. 9.34 Tex. Admin. Code § 3.327 — Taxpayer's Bond or Other Security — Legal Information Institute (Texas Administrative Code) · accessed 9 October 2026