To start a landscaping business in Texas, you register a legal entity with the Secretary of State, get a sales tax permit from the Comptroller, and pick up licenses from the Department of Agriculture or the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality if your work includes chemical applications or irrigation. The core state filing fee is $300 for an LLC, almost everything is handled online, and the licenses you actually need depend on which services you plan to sell.
Pick a Legal Structure and File It
Most landscapers choose between a sole proprietorship and an LLC. A sole proprietorship costs nothing to start, but you and the business are the same legal entity, so your personal assets are exposed if an employee damages a client’s property or someone sues. An LLC separates personal assets from business debts, which matters in a trade where crews run heavy equipment on other people’s land. General partnerships exist for two or more owners launching together without incorporating, but each partner carries full liability.
To form an LLC, file a Certificate of Formation (Form 205) with the Secretary of State.1Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Business and Nonprofit Forms The fee is $300, payable by credit card through the SOSDirect portal or by check if you mail the form to P.O. Box 13697, Austin, TX 78711.2Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Contact the Corporations Section The form asks for your LLC name, management structure, a brief purpose, and a registered agent.
Every Texas filing entity must continuously maintain a registered agent with a physical street address in the state. A P.O. box won’t satisfy the requirement.3State of Texas. Texas Code Business Organizations Code – Section 5-201 You can serve as your own agent if you have a Texas address, or hire a service.4Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Registered Agents Once processed, the Secretary of State returns a stamped certificate. Keep it. You’ll need it to open a business bank account and apply for your tax permits.
Clear Your Business Name
Before you file anything, confirm the name you want isn’t already taken. Search the Secretary of State’s SOSDirect portal for existing Texas entities,5Office of the Texas Secretary of State. SOSDirect – Online Searching and Filing and run a separate search through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s database to make sure your name doesn’t infringe a federal trademark.6United States Patent and Trademark Office. Search Our Trademark Database
If you’ll operate under a name other than your own legal name (as a sole proprietor) or something different from what’s on your certificate of formation (as an LLC), you need an assumed name certificate, usually called a DBA. Sole proprietors and general partnerships file with the county clerk in each county where they conduct business.7Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Name Filings FAQs LLCs and corporations file Form 503 with the Secretary of State.8Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Form 503 – Instructions for Assumed Name Certificate
Get a Federal EIN
Any LLC, partnership, or corporation needs an Employer Identification Number from the IRS. Sole proprietors can get by with a Social Security number until they hire employees, but getting an EIN upfront keeps your SSN off invoices, W-9s, and vendor paperwork.9Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
The IRS online application is free and takes about ten minutes. You have to finish in one session: the system doesn’t save progress and times out after 15 minutes of inactivity. Print the confirmation letter when you’re done.
Register for Sales Tax
Landscaping and lawn care are taxable services in Texas. If you mow, trim trees, install beds, or do any other grounds maintenance for pay, you generally need a Sales and Use Tax Permit from the Comptroller before collecting from customers.10Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Landscaping and Lawn Care Services
One narrow exemption exists: a self-employed individual who personally performs all the work, has no employees or partners, and had gross receipts of $5,000 or less across the most recent four calendar quarters doesn’t have to collect sales tax. Cross that threshold and you must start collecting on the first day of the next quarter.10Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Landscaping and Lawn Care Services Hire even one helper and the exemption disappears regardless of revenue.
The state rate is 6.25 percent. Local jurisdictions can add up to 2 percent for a maximum combined rate of 8.25 percent.11Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Local Sales and Use Tax Collection – A Guide for Sellers You charge the rate for the location where the work is performed. Apply for the permit on the Comptroller’s website and file returns through Webfile on a monthly or quarterly schedule based on your volume.12Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. File and Pay Keep detailed records on every taxable job. The Comptroller audits landscapers.
Know the Franchise Tax Trap
Texas has no personal income tax, but it does charge a franchise tax on most business entities, including LLCs and corporations. Every taxable entity must file an annual franchise tax report by May 15, even when it owes nothing.13Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Franchise Tax
The 2026 no-tax-due threshold is $2,650,000 in total revenue. Most new landscaping operations will fall well below that. You still have to file the report. Missing it triggers a $50 late-filing penalty and, eventually, forfeiture of your entity’s registration with the Secretary of State. Getting a forfeited entity reinstated means paying back penalties, interest, and all outstanding reports. “No tax owed” does not mean “nothing to file.”
Pesticide and Herbicide Licensing
The moment your services move past mowing and trimming into weed control, pest treatment, or any other chemical application, you enter the Texas Department of Agriculture’s licensing system. Anyone who applies or supervises the application of a restricted-use or state-limited-use pesticide must hold a Commercial Applicator License from TDA.14Texas Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Applicators
Getting licensed means passing two exams: a general standards test and at least one category test (for landscapers, typically Landscape Maintenance). The license application fee is $200. Staff who apply chemicals under your direct supervision can work under a Technician License while they build toward full licensure. The individual license covers the person, and the business itself needs a separate Pesticide Business License that links your company to TDA’s regulatory tracking system. Spraying commercially without both can result in administrative penalties and fines.
Federal law adds another layer. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, applying any pesticide in a way that contradicts its label is illegal. The label dictates application rate, protective equipment, re-entry intervals, and environmental restrictions. Ignoring it on a restricted-use product draws both TDA and EPA enforcement.
Irrigation Licensing
This one catches new landscapers off guard. In Texas you cannot sell, design, install, maintain, or repair an irrigation system without a license from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.15Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Occupational Licenses: Landscape Irrigator, Irrigation Technician That covers sprinkler systems, drip irrigation, and any connection to a water supply. If a customer asks you to swap out a broken sprinkler head and you aren’t licensed, you’re violating state law.
The Landscape Irrigator license is the full credential and allows design, installation, maintenance, repair, and service, including connecting to water supplies. The Irrigation Technician license is narrower, for employees working under a licensed irrigator; technicians can install, maintain, and repair but can’t design independently. Each requires a training course, a TCEQ exam with a passing score of at least 70 percent, and a $111 application fee. Licenses run three years and require continuing education to renew: 24 hours for irrigators, 16 for technicians.15Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Occupational Licenses: Landscape Irrigator, Irrigation Technician
Skip this only if irrigation won’t be part of your service lineup. The first time a customer asks you to “just hook up the sprinklers,” you need either the license or a licensed subcontractor.
Insurance and Bonding
Texas is one of a handful of states where most private employers don’t have to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Opting out costs you legal defenses. Without workers’ comp, an injured employee who sues can’t be met with the arguments that they were negligent, that a coworker caused the injury, or that they accepted the risk. In a trade where crews run mowers, chainsaws, and chemical sprayers, that exposure stacks up. Workers’ comp is mandatory for employees working on government contracts.16Texas Department of Insurance. Workers’ Compensation Insurance Guide
TDA separately requires every commercial pesticide applicator to maintain financial responsibility (liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage) for the entire time they hold a license.14Texas Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Applicators A lapse can trigger license suspension.
Commercial clients and general contractors almost always require general liability insurance, typically at least $1,000,000 in coverage. Municipal and government work usually also requires surety bonds guaranteeing you’ll finish the project under the contract terms. Premiums vary based on crew size, revenue, and claims history, so budget for this from day one.
Before You Hire Your First Employee
Once you hire, several federal requirements kick in at once. You must complete Form I-9 for every new hire, citizens and non-citizens alike, within three business days of their start date. The forms stay in your files (not submitted to the government) for three years after the hire date or one year after employment ends, whichever is later.17U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
OSHA regulates workplace safety for landscaping crews under its General Industry standards, with Construction Industry standards applying when crews build retaining walls or other hardscape features.18Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Landscape and Horticultural Services – Standards You provide eye and hearing protection, gloves for chemical handling, and steel-toed boots, and train employees on lockout/tagout, electrical safety, and first aid. Landscaping has one of the higher injury rates among outdoor industries, and field inspections do happen.
The IRS requires you to keep employment tax records for at least four years: payroll records, W-4s, quarterly 941s, and annual 940s.19Internal Revenue Service. Recordkeeping
Trucks, Trailers, and Commercial Auto
Most landscaping rigs stay below the federal commercial vehicle threshold of 10,001 pounds gross vehicle weight rating. Under that weight, you don’t need a USDOT number or annual DOT inspections. Scale up to a larger truck and loaded trailer combination that crosses 10,001 pounds and federal motor carrier rules apply, including a USDOT number and annual safety inspections covering brakes, tires, lights, and coupling devices. A one-ton truck pulling a trailer with a riding mower and equipment can cross that line more easily than you’d expect, so weigh the fully loaded rig before assuming you’re exempt.
Every vehicle used in the business should carry commercial auto insurance, not a personal auto policy. Personal policies typically exclude vehicles used for business, so a claim after an accident while towing to a job site could be denied outright.