Texas liquor tax comes in layers. The state charges a $2.40-per-gallon excise tax on distilled spirits, paid by distributors and wholesalers before the bottle reaches a retailer. On top of that, any bar, restaurant, or private club with a mixed beverage permit owes two taxes on every drink sold for on-site consumption: a 6.7% gross receipts tax that comes out of the business’s revenue, and an 8.25% sales tax collected from the customer. Both are administered by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and filed monthly. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) handles the excise taxes and the permits themselves.
What Bars and Restaurants Owe on Every Drink
If you hold a mixed beverage permit, nearly 15% of your drink revenue goes to the state through two separate taxes. Knowing which one you eat and which one your customer pays is the difference between clean books and an audit.
The 6.7% Gross Receipts Tax
The mixed beverage gross receipts tax is 6.7% of your total revenue from alcoholic drinks, including any preparation or service charges.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 183.021 – Tax Imposed on Gross Receipts of Permittee From Mixed Beverages This one falls on the permit holder. You cannot list it as a separate charge on the tab or back it out of the sale price.2Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts Tax It applies to spirits, wine, malt beverages, and any nonalcoholic mixers combined with alcohol on the premises.
Complimentary drinks are excluded from gross receipts, but you do owe use tax on the cost of the ingredients, reported on your regular sales tax return.3Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Mixed Beverage Tax Return
The 8.25% Sales Tax
The mixed beverage sales tax is 8.25% of the sale price of each alcoholic drink, plus any nonalcoholic beverages mixed with alcohol on-site.4Cornell Law Institute. 34 Texas Administrative Code 3.1002 – Mixed Beverage Sales Tax Unlike the gross receipts tax, this one comes from the customer at the register. You hold the funds and remit them to the Comptroller.
The bookkeeping distinction matters. The 6.7% reduces your revenue; the 8.25% flows through your register on behalf of the state. Neither tax qualifies for the timely-filing discount that applies to standard Texas sales tax.5Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Mixed Beverage Taxes Frequently Asked Questions
The Per-Gallon Excise Tax
Texas imposes a per-gallon excise tax on the first sale of every alcoholic beverage produced in or imported into the state, set in Chapter 201 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code. The rates are:
- Distilled spirits (vodka, whiskey, rum, and similar): $2.40 per gallon, with a five-cent minimum on miniatures of two ounces or less.6State of Texas. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 201.03 – Tax on Distilled Spirits
- Wine at 14% ABV or below: $0.204 per gallon.
- Wine above 14% ABV: $0.408 per gallon.
- Sparkling wine: $0.516 per gallon regardless of alcohol content.7Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Alcohol Excise Taxes
- Malt beverages (beer and ale): about $0.19 per gallon.
Distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers pay these taxes to TABC and file monthly reports.7Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Alcohol Excise Taxes Because the tax is calculated by volume, a $15 bottle and a $150 bottle of the same size carry identical excise tax. Retailers never write a check for excise directly; it is already priced into the wholesale cost.
Off-Premise and Package Sales
Mixed beverage taxes only apply to on-site consumption. If a mixed beverage permit holder sells alcohol for takeout, delivery, or pickup, those sales are subject only to the standard Texas sales and use tax and go on the regular sales tax return, not the mixed beverage reports.5Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Mixed Beverage Taxes Frequently Asked Questions Liquor stores and package stores selling sealed containers work the same way: standard sales tax at the register, no mixed beverage taxes, because the excise tax was paid earlier in the supply chain.
How and When to File
Mixed beverage tax reports and payments are due by the 20th of the month following each reporting period. If the 20th falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. You file even if you owe nothing for the month.8Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts Tax Report
Every month you submit two reports:
- Form 67-100, the Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts Tax Report, for the 6.7% tax on your total drink revenue.
- Form 67-103, the Mixed Beverage Sales Tax Report, for the 8.25% tax collected from customers.9Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Mixed Beverage Sales Tax Report
Both forms require your eleven-digit Texas Taxpayer Number and your TABC permit number.8Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts Tax Report
The Comptroller runs an eSystems portal for electronic filing. Electronic reporting becomes mandatory once you paid $50,000 or more in mixed beverage taxes during the preceding state fiscal year. Electronic payment is required at the $10,000 threshold, and businesses that owed $500,000 or more must pay through TEXNET.10Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. File and Pay Smaller operators can still file electronically by choice or mail paper forms.
Penalties and Permit Consequences
A missed deadline triggers an automatic $50 late-filing penalty per report, plus interest at 1.75% per month (or fraction of a month) on any unpaid tax, running from the due date until you pay.8Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts Tax Report The $50 flat fee is manageable; the interest compounds fast on a busy bar’s monthly liability, and it stacks each month you stay delinquent.
Repeated noncompliance is a different matter. The TABC’s base regulatory penalty for failing to pay or report mixed beverage taxes is $1,000, and the agency can suspend or cancel a permit outright for ongoing failures. A suspension shuts down your alcohol sales until the matter is resolved.
A permit application will also be blocked if you owe the state anything. New TABC license and permit applicants must hold a valid sales tax permit at the same location and cannot be delinquent on any state taxes. An outstanding balance from a prior business or even a personal tax debt can stop the application.11Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Mixed Beverage Taxes
The Federal Excise Layer
Before a bottle reaches a Texas distributor, it has already been taxed federally. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) charges distilled spirits at a general rate of $13.50 per proof gallon. Smaller producers pay $2.70 per proof gallon on the first 100,000 proof gallons and $13.34 per proof gallon on the next roughly 22 million.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5001 – Imposition, Rate, and Attachment of Tax Federal wine rates run from $0.226 per gallon for hard cider to $3.40 per gallon for sparkling wine, with still wine at 16% ABV or below at $1.07 per gallon.13Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Tax Rates For a Texas bar or retailer, these costs arrive already embedded in the wholesale price; they are not something you file for separately.