How to Pay Texas Franchise Tax Online via Webfile

To pay Texas franchise tax online, log into the Comptroller’s eSystems/Webfile portal with your 11-digit taxpayer number and Webfile access code, select Franchise Tax, complete the report form that matches your revenue, and submit payment by electronic check, credit card, or TEXNET before the May 15 deadline.¹ The whole process runs in one session if you have your numbers ready.

What to Have Ready Before You Log In

Webfile will time out if you leave it idle while you dig for paperwork. Pull these together first:

Your Texas Taxpayer Number, the 11-digit number assigned when your entity registered with the Comptroller. It appears on prior correspondence and tax filings.
Your Webfile Number, a shorter access code (often starting with “XT”) printed on the Comptroller’s annual franchise tax notice. If you’ve lost the letter, call 800-442-3453; the automated system can release it if you can supply confidential data from a prior filing, such as total revenue or last payment amount.²
Your most recent federal income tax return: Form 1120 for corporations, 1065 for partnerships, or the equivalent. It supplies the revenue, cost of goods sold, and compensation figures you’ll enter.

Pick the Right Report Before You Start Entering Numbers

Webfile presents different forms depending on your annualized total revenue, and choosing the wrong one wastes time. For the 2026 report year, the no-tax-due threshold is $2.65 million.³

At or below $2.65 million: you owe no franchise tax, and the Comptroller no longer requires a No Tax Due Report (eliminated starting with the 2024 report year). You still must file a Public Information Report or Ownership Information Report through Webfile.⁴
Above $2.65 million and at or below $20 million: you can elect the EZ Computation Report, which applies a flat 0.331 percent to total revenue and skips the margin calculation.
Above $20 million, or by choice: file the Long Form Report, which lets you deduct cost of goods sold or compensation and then apply either the 0.75 percent standard rate or the 0.375 percent rate for qualifying retailers and wholesalers.⁵

If your revenue sits in the $2.65 million to $20 million band, run the numbers both ways. EZ charges a lower rate on the full revenue figure; the Long Form applies a higher rate but allows deductions that can substantially shrink the base. Businesses with heavy payroll or material costs often pay less on the Long Form.

Filing the Report in Webfile

Once your paperwork is in front of you, the online process moves quickly.

Log in. Go to the Comptroller’s eSystems page, enter your taxpayer number and Webfile number, and choose Franchise Tax from the menu.
Select and complete the report. Pick EZ Computation or Long Form, enter your revenue, choose cash or accrual as your accounting method, and input any deductions.
Review before paying. Webfile calculates the tax due on screen. Check the figures carefully; corrections after submission require a paper amended report, not another online session.

Paying Through Webfile

Webfile hands you off to a payment screen after you submit the report. Your choices:

Electronic check (ACH debit). Enter your bank routing number and account number. No processing fee.
Credit card. Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express are accepted. The processing fee is $1 for payments up to $100, and 2.25 percent of the amount plus $0.25 for payments over $100.⁶
TEXNET or another approved electronic funds transfer. Required for entities that paid $10,000 or more in franchise tax during the prior state fiscal year. Reaching that threshold triggers a mandate to use TEXNET, electronic check, or electronic credit card transmission.⁷

After payment, Webfile displays a confirmation screen with a confirmation number. Save it or print it. That screen is your receipt and your proof of timely filing if the Comptroller later raises a question.

Don’t Forget the Information Report

Every taxable entity must file one of two information reports alongside the franchise tax report, due on the same May 15 deadline.⁸ Which one depends on how your entity is organized:

Public Information Report (Form 05-102): required for corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, professional associations, and financial institutions. An officer, director, or authorized person signs it. The Comptroller shares the officer and director data with the Secretary of State.
Ownership Information Report (Form 05-167): required for taxable entities not organized as one of the types above. A partner, member, owner, or other authorized person signs it.

Entities under the no-tax-due threshold still file this report. Skipping it triggers a flat $50 penalty whether or not any tax was due, and continued nonfiling can lead to forfeiture of your right to transact business.⁴

If You Can’t File by May 15

Texas grants an automatic extension to November 15 if you pay enough tax upfront by the May 15 deadline. Your extension payment must be at least 90 percent of the tax that will be due on your current year’s report, or 100 percent of the tax reported on last year’s return (provided last year’s report was filed by May 14).¹

You can request the extension inside Webfile or by submitting Form 05-164 on paper. If you pay online, don’t also mail the paper form. Entities required to pay by electronic funds transfer (generally those who paid $10,000 or more in franchise tax the prior year) get a different schedule: a first extension to August 15, with a possible second extension to November 15.

An extension gives you more time to file, not more time to pay. If your May 15 payment falls short of the 90 percent threshold, the extension is invalid and penalties accrue from the original due date.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

A 5 percent penalty on the tax due kicks in the day after May 15. If the tax still isn’t paid within 30 days, another 5 percent is added, bringing the total to 10 percent of the amount owed. The minimum penalty is $1. A separate $50 penalty applies to any entity that fails to file the required report, regardless of whether tax was owed.⁹

Interest begins accruing 61 days after the due date. For 2026, the annual rate is 7.75 percent (prime plus 1 percent), and it’s recalculated each year.¹⁰

The stakes rise sharply after that. If you don’t file the required reports or pay franchise tax within 45 days of receiving the Comptroller’s delinquency notice, the Comptroller forfeits your entity’s right to transact business in Texas. The entity loses the ability to bring lawsuits in Texas courts, though courts have read this to mean the entity cannot initiate new litigation while still being allowed to defend suits filed against it. If the situation still isn’t resolved 120 days after that notice, the Comptroller sends an electronic file to the Secretary of State, which changes the entity’s status to “forfeited existence.” At that point the business is treated as a terminated entity, officers and directors can still be sued personally, and the debts do not disappear.

Reinstatement is possible: file all delinquent reports, pay all back taxes plus penalties and interest, and submit a reinstatement application to the Secretary of State with a $75 filing fee (waived for nonprofit corporations). Paying on time through Webfile costs a few minutes; digging out from forfeiture costs considerably more.

1
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Franchise Tax Extensions of Time to File
2
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Requesting Tax Certificates and Tax Clearance Letters
3
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Franchise Tax Report Forms for 2026
4
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. No Tax Due Reporting for Report Year 2024 and Later
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. 2026 Texas Franchise Tax Report Information and Instructions – Form 05-915
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Pay with Credit Card
7
Cornell Law Institute. Texas Administrative Code Title 34, Section 3.9
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Franchise Tax Public Information Report and Ownership Information Report
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State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Chapter 171 – Franchise Tax
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Interest Owed and Earned