Do I need a sales tax permit in Texas?

Every seller engaged in business in Texas must get a sales and use tax permit for each place of business it operates in Texas. Texas calls the registration a Texas sales and use tax permit. For a seller outside Texas, the economic nexus threshold is $500,000 in sales in the preceding 12 calendar months. Texas's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

Sales tax permit · Texas

How to Get a Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit

The short answer. In Texas, the registration a business must hold before it makes sales subject to Texas sales tax is a Texas sales and use tax permit, issued by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas charges no fee for the sales and use tax permit.

Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit at a Glance

What Texas calls it	Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit
Issued by	Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
How to apply	Online or paper
Fee	Free
Security deposit or bond	May be required
Expires	Depends (see Renewal)
Several locations	One for each location
Local sales tax	Depends (see Local taxes)
Threshold for sellers outside the state	$500,000 in sales

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.

Who Needs a Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit

Every seller engaged in business in Texas must get a sales and use tax permit for each place of business it operates in Texas.

For a seller outside Texas, the economic nexus threshold is $500,000 in sales in the preceding 12 calendar months. Texas's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

How to Apply

You apply to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. You can apply online or on a paper application. Go to Texas's registration page.

Texas requires your registration to be displayed at the place of business.

What It Costs

Texas charges no fee for the sales and use tax permit.

Texas may require security, such as a bond or deposit. State law says an applicant must file security in an amount the Comptroller sets, while the Comptroller's own guidance says you may be required to post a bond. Confirm with a Comptroller field office whether you will need one.

Does It Expire?

The permit stays valid only while you are actively in business as a seller. The Comptroller may cancel it if you report no sales and no taxable purchases for a whole calendar year.

More Than One Location

A business needs a separate sales and use tax permit for each place of business in Texas.

Local Sales Taxes in Texas

City and county sales taxes are collected by the Comptroller together with the state tax. Local hotel occupancy taxes are collected by the city, county or district that charges them.

More for Texas Businesses

Texas resale certificate, for buying inventory for resale.
Sales tax nexus checker, to see which other states your sales may require you to register in.
Texas LLC guide, for forming and running an LLC in the state.
LLC guide for eBay sellers in Texas, for selling only through a marketplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Every seller engaged in business in Texas must get a sales and use tax permit for each place of business it operates in Texas. Texas calls the registration a Texas sales and use tax permit. For a seller outside Texas, the economic nexus threshold is $500,000 in sales in the preceding 12 calendar months. Texas's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.
: Texas charges no fee for the sales and use tax permit. Texas may require security, such as a bond or deposit. State law says an applicant must file security in an amount the Comptroller sets, while the Comptroller's own guidance says you may be required to post a bond. Confirm with a Comptroller field office whether you will need one.
: The permit stays valid only while you are actively in business as a seller. The Comptroller may cancel it if you report no sales and no taxable purchases for a whole calendar year.
: A business needs a separate sales and use tax permit for each place of business in Texas.
: City and county sales taxes are collected by the Comptroller together with the state tax. Local hotel occupancy taxes are collected by the city, county or district that charges them.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and tax agency say about the registration a business holds before it makes taxable sales, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you whether your own business must register: that turns on what you sell, where you sell it from, and how much you sell into the state, and fees, security rules and thresholds change between our reviews. Confirm your own position with the tax agency named on this page before you start selling.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Texas sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TX/htm/TX.151.htmTexas Tax Code chapter 151: 151.201, 151.202, 151.251, 151.253
star.comptroller.texas.gov/view/202001001R34 TAC 3.286, Seller's and Purchaser's Responsibilities (effective January 1, 2020)
star.comptroller.texas.gov/view/200207280R34 TAC 3.327, Taxpayer's Bond or Other Security
comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/sales/faq/permit.phpTexas Comptroller, Sales Tax Permit FAQs
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TX/htm/TX.321.htmTexas Tax Code 321.301, Comptroller to collect and administer municipal taxes
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TX/htm/TX.323.htmTexas Tax Code 323.301, Comptroller to collect and administer county taxes
comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/hotel/Texas Comptroller, Hotel Occupancy Tax

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.