Texas Sales Tax: the complete 2026 guide (rates, registration, deadlines)

Texas runs one of the more layered sales tax regimes in the country. The state rate is 6.25%, but cities, counties and special districts can add up to 2% more — a combined maximum of 8.25%. Run a business in Austin and that means collecting 8.25% on taxable sales, holding that money for the state, and reporting it correctly and on time. This guide walks through the whole thing: what gets taxed, who registers, the rate for your city, how to file with the Comptroller, and the mistakes that turn into penalties.

What is sales tax, and what does it apply to in Texas?

Sales tax is charged to the final consumer at the moment of purchase, on most physical goods and certain listed services. The selling business acts as the middleman: it collects the tax, keeps it separate, and files and remits it to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Sales tax is separate from your annual income taxes — for that side of the house, see our tax preparation service.

What’s taxable

• Physical goods (tangible personal property): clothing, electronics, furniture, hardware, vehicles and more.
• Specific services Texas law lists expressly: repair and installation of tangible goods, cleaning, landscaping, security, telecommunications, among others.
• Rental of tangible goods: equipment, tools, rental cars.

What’s exempt

• Unprepared groceries — what you buy at the supermarket to cook at home.
• Prescription medicine and certain medical equipment.
• Clothing, footwear and school supplies under $100 per item during the back-to-school tax-free weekend in August.

Selling something you’re not sure about? Check the Comptroller’s taxability lists, or ask your accountant before you set prices.

The tax-free weekends

Texas holds three weekends a year when qualifying products are exempt, whoever buys them:

• Emergency supplies (April): portable generators, flashlights, batteries and first-aid kits, within price limits.
• Energy Star and WaterSense (May): efficient appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators and low-flow fixtures.
• Back to school (August): clothing, footwear, backpacks and school supplies under $100 per item — the most popular one.

If your business sells any of these, mark the calendar: during those weekends you don’t collect tax on qualifying items — but you still report those sales as exempt on your return.

Who has to collect sales tax in Texas?

It isn’t only businesses with a storefront. The law recognizes three main scenarios.

Businesses with physical presence in Texas

If your LLC operates from an office, warehouse, storefront or even your home in Texas, you have physical nexus and must register and collect on taxable sales, whatever your size.

E-commerce with economic nexus

Since the Supreme Court’s South Dakota v. Wayfair ruling (2018), physical presence is no longer required. In Texas, remote sales into the state above $500,000 over the trailing 12 months create economic nexus — you must register, collect and file, even operating 100% online from another state or country.

Marketplace facilitators

Selling through Amazon, Etsy, Walmart Marketplace or another platform that qualifies as a marketplace facilitator? The platform itself collects and remits the tax on those sales. You still report them on your return, and you remain responsible for collecting on your direct sales — your own website, in-person sales, and so on.

Sales tax rates by Texas city

The state rate is fixed at 6.25%. Local jurisdictions add up to 2% combined — city, county, transit and special districts — and the combined total can never exceed 8.25%.

Most large Texas cities sit at the 8.25% cap, stacking the municipal, transit and special-district rates. Rural or unincorporated areas can come in lower. Before you charge, verify the exact rate for your specific address with the Comptroller’s rate locator.

How to register with the Texas Comptroller

1. Go to comptroller.texas.gov and create an eSystems account.
2. Apply for your Sales and Use Tax Permit. It’s free — Texas charges nothing to issue it.
3. You’ll receive your permit number, used on every return and, in some cases, displayed at your point of sale.
4. From your registration date on, you collect on taxable sales and report on the schedule the Comptroller assigns you.

LLC not formed yet? That comes first — we open your Texas LLC and file your sales tax permit as part of the same process.

To apply, have on hand: your LLC’s EIN, the date you started (or will start) selling in Texas, a description of the business and its NAICS code, and the owners’ or members’ information.

Resale certificates: when you don’t collect

Not every sale requires collecting tax. Selling wholesale to another business that will resell the product — not consume it — you can accept a resale certificate instead of charging tax. The certificate shifts the responsibility: your buyer declares they’ll collect when they sell to the final consumer, and you document the transaction as exempt.

The reverse applies too: buying inventory to resell, you hand your own resale certificate to your supplier and buy tax-free. The classic mistake is using it for things you will not resell — office equipment, internal supplies, tools. Those do owe sales (or use) tax, and misusing the certificate can create personal liability in an audit.

Use tax: the other side of the coin

Use tax complements sales tax: it applies when you buy something outside Texas (or online, from a seller who didn’t charge Texas tax) to use, store or consume in the state. The rate matches — 6.25% state plus the applicable local share — and you, the buyer, owe it directly to the Comptroller when nobody charged you at the point of sale.

It’s the tax that slips by: equipment from an out-of-state vendor, software or supplies from a seller with no Texas nexus. In an audit, the Comptroller reviews your purchases as closely as your sales — unreported use tax is among the most common findings.

Filing frequency and deadlines

• Monthly: collecting over $1,500 in sales tax per month.
• Quarterly: between $500 and $1,500.
• Yearly: under $1,000 for the year.

The typical deadline is the 20th of the month after the period closes — June’s monthly return is due July 20. If the 20th falls on a weekend or holiday, it rolls to the next business day.

How to file, step by step

Texas requires filing online through Webfile, the Comptroller’s system:

1. Log in to eSystems/Webfile with your permit number.
2. Select the period you’re filing.
3. Report gross sales, exempt sales and tax collected by jurisdiction — state, city, county and special districts.
4. The system computes the total; check it against what you actually collected.
5. Pay online by EFT or card.
6. Save the confirmation — you’ll want it if an audit comes.

With clean, well-categorized books, this takes minutes. With numbers scattered across spreadsheets, it turns into hours every month — one reason most of our clients hand us their monthly bookkeeping.

Common mistakes, and what the Comptroller charges for them

• Not registering. Operating without a permit can draw penalties for every unregistered day, plus retroactive liability for the tax you should have collected from day one.
• Filing late. A 5% penalty on the amount due for late filing, climbing the longer it goes unresolved, plus interest on the balance.
• Charging the wrong rate. Undercharge and the difference comes out of your pocket — the customer won’t pay it later. Overcharge and you must correct it and remit what you collected.
• Not keeping records. The Comptroller can audit years back. Without organized receipts, invoices, resale certificates and reports, an audit gets expensive fast.
• Misusing a resale certificate. Accepting or issuing one for purchases that aren’t for resale is a top audit finding — and can create personal liability for the LLC’s owner.
• Skipping “zero” returns. Even with no sales in a period, an active permit means filing anyway — with zeros — or the Comptroller may assume you closed and suspend your permit.

Does sales tax apply to internet sales?

Yes, with a few wrinkles.

Wayfair changed the rules

Before 2018, you only collected in states where you had physical presence. The Supreme Court reversed that standard in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. — today, economic nexus (passing a sales threshold into a state) also creates the obligation, with no office, warehouse or employees there.

Marketplace facilitator laws

Texas adopted its own: sell exclusively through a platform like Amazon or Etsy and the platform collects and remits on those specific sales for you.

Selling into other states

If your Texas LLC sells to customers in other states and passes that state’s economic-nexus threshold, you may owe registration and collection there too — each state sets its own rules and thresholds. Selling in several states? A review with your accountant tells you where you already owe registration.

Need help with your monthly sales tax?

Keeping sales tax straight month to month — separating what you collected, computing by jurisdiction, filing on time — is one of the bigger headaches of running a Texas LLC. Without a system, late filings and wrong rates both end in penalties. Our monthly bookkeeping includes recording and filing your sales tax with the Comptroller. And if the LLC isn’t formed yet, we open it from scratch, sales tax permit included.