To file sales tax in Texas, log in to the Comptroller’s WebFile system, enter your gross sales, deductions, taxable sales, and the tax collected for each local jurisdiction, then pay by electronic check, credit card, or TEXNET. Returns are due by the 20th day of the month after the end of your reporting period, and you must file even if you collected nothing.1Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Sales and Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions – Report and Pay
When Your Return Is Due
The Comptroller assigns one of three filing frequencies based on how much tax you collect:
- Monthly, if you collect $500 or more in combined state and local sales tax in a calendar month.
- Quarterly, if you collect less than $500 per month but more than $1,000 per year.
- Annually, if you collect less than $1,000 in total tax for the year.
Every return is due by the 20th of the month after the reporting period ends. A January monthly return is due February 20. A first-quarter return covering January through March is due April 20. An annual return is due January 20 of the following year. If the 20th lands on a weekend or legal holiday, you have until the next business day.1Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Sales and Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions – Report and Pay
Your frequency isn’t permanent. The Comptroller can move you to a different schedule if your collections rise or fall significantly.
What to Gather Before You File
Gross Sales and Deductions
Start with total gross sales for the reporting period: every transaction, taxable or not. Then subtract allowable deductions to reach your taxable sales. Common deductions include sales for resale (supported by a resale certificate on file), sales to exempt organizations such as nonprofits, schools, and government entities, and sales shipped out of state. Round every dollar amount to the nearest whole dollar.
Taxable Purchases and Use Tax
If you removed inventory for personal or business use, or bought taxable goods or services from an out-of-state vendor that didn’t charge Texas tax, report those amounts on the “Taxable Purchases” line of your return. The rate is the same as sales tax, and permit holders settle use tax on their regular return rather than filing separately.2Texas Comptroller. Use Tax Items originally bought tax-free for resale that you later gave away, used as supplies, or kept for yourself belong here too.
Local Tax Breakdown
The state rate is 6.25 percent. Cities, counties, special-purpose districts, and transit authorities can add up to another 2 percent, so the combined maximum is 8.25 percent.3Comptroller of Public Accounts. Local Sales and Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions Your return has to show the tax collected for each local jurisdiction separately. If you sell from more than one location or ship across jurisdictions, use the Comptroller’s rate lookup tool to confirm the correct local rate for each address before you file.
Filing Through WebFile
Most taxpayers file electronically through the Comptroller’s WebFile portal. If you don’t already have an eSystems account, create one by choosing a user ID and password, setting security questions, and verifying your email address. Then link your taxpayer number using the WebFile number printed in the upper-left corner of the paper report the Comptroller mailed you. If you don’t have that number, call the Comptroller at (800) 442-3453.4Texas Comptroller. Create a Webfile Account Step-by-Step
Once you’re in, enter your gross sales, deductions, taxable purchases, and the local tax breakdown. The system calculates the tax due and shows a summary before you submit. Review the numbers, submit the return, and move to payment in the same session.
Even if you had no sales for the period, you still have to file a zero return. Skipping it brings a $50 late-filing penalty, and repeated non-filing can lead to permit suspension or an estimated assessment by the Comptroller.5Texas Comptroller. Penalties for Past Due Taxes
Paper Returns
Paper filing is allowed only if you paid less than $10,000 in sales tax during the prior state fiscal year. If you paid $50,000 or more, paper filing isn’t an option.6Comptroller of Public Accounts. Requirements for Reporting and Paying Texas Sales and Use Tax Mail your return and check to the Comptroller of Public Accounts in Austin, write your taxpayer number and reporting period on the check, and keep the postmarked receipt. The postmark is your official filing date for penalty purposes. Expect slower processing than WebFile.
Paying What You Owe
In WebFile, you can pay by electronic check (EFT) or by American Express, Discover, Mastercard, or Visa during the same session you file the return.6Comptroller of Public Accounts. Requirements for Reporting and Paying Texas Sales and Use Tax
Electronic payment is mandatory for larger taxpayers. If you paid $10,000 or more in sales tax during the prior state fiscal year (September 1 through August 31), you must pay electronically, though you can choose among WebFile EFT, credit card, EDI, or TEXNET.7Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas. TEXNET and Electronic Payment of Taxes and Fees Frequently Asked Questions If you paid $500,000 or more, you must use TEXNET specifically.8Texas Comptroller. Pay With TEXNET – State of Texas Financial Network
TEXNET uses its own cutoff times. For payments of $1,000,000 or less, you must initiate the transaction by 10:00 a.m. CT on the due date. For payments above $1,000,000, you must initiate by 8:00 p.m. CT on the business day before the due date. These times are earlier than the WebFile deadline, so don’t assume filing cutoffs apply.
Taking the Timely-Filing and Prepayment Discounts
Texas gives you money back for paying on time. File your return and pay in full by the due date, and you can subtract 0.5 percent of the tax due from your payment.1Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Sales and Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions – Report and Pay
Monthly and quarterly filers can earn an extra 1.25 percent by prepaying. A monthly filer prepays by the 15th of the current month: for the January return due February 20, the prepayment is due January 15. Quarterly filers prepay by the 15th of the second month of the quarter. The 1.25 percent prepayment discount stacks with the 0.5 percent timely-filing discount, so a qualifying prepayer keeps 1.75 percent of the tax collected. Subtract the discount from the total liability before sending the final payment.
Penalties and Interest If You File Late
Late filing and late payment are separate penalties, and they add up fast:
- $50 flat penalty on any return filed after the due date, even a zero return.5Texas Comptroller. Penalties for Past Due Taxes
- 5 percent of the unpaid tax if payment is 1 to 30 days late.
- 10 percent of the unpaid tax if payment is more than 30 days late.
- An additional 10 percent if you still haven’t paid after receiving a Notice of Tax Due, bringing the total penalty to 20 percent.
- Statutory interest starts on the 61st day after the due date. For 2026, the annual rate is 7.75 percent, applied to the combined balance of unpaid tax and penalties.9Texas Comptroller. Interest Owed and Earned
The Comptroller can waive penalties, and in narrow cases interest, if you can show a reasonable effort to comply. The agency weighs whether you’re current on everything else, your overall filing history, the size of your business, whether you’ve had a prior waiver, and what you’ve done to keep the problem from happening again.10Cornell Law School. 34 Texas Administrative Code 3.5 – Waiver of Penalty or Interest Interest waivers are generally limited to Comptroller delays, reliance on incorrect Comptroller advice, or natural disasters.
Fixing a Return After You File
If you find an error after you’ve submitted, file an amended return through WebFile. The system shows what you originally reported, and you change only the figures that need correcting. The Comptroller recalculates the tax due or refund owed from the revised numbers. When an amendment produces additional tax, pay it as soon as you can; penalty and interest run from the original due date, not the amendment date.
Records to Keep After You File
Keep all sales tax records for at least four years from the date each record is created, and longer if an audit, administrative hearing, or judicial proceeding is pending.11Cornell Law School. 34 Texas Administrative Code 3.281 – Records Required; Information Required That covers sales receipts, purchase invoices, bank statements, resale and exemption certificates from your buyers, and anything backing up a deduction or exclusion you claimed. Save your WebFile confirmation numbers too; they’re the cleanest way to resolve a dispute over whether a return was filed or a payment went through.
Resale and exemption certificates deserve particular attention. If an auditor asks for the certificate behind a tax-free sale and you can’t produce it, that sale gets reclassified as taxable, and you owe the tax plus penalties and interest.12Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Sales and Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions – Records Without adequate records, the Comptroller can estimate your liability from supplier records or sampling, suspend your permit, or pursue criminal penalties.