Texas Annual Franchise Tax Report

Texas Annual Franchise Tax Report Due Dates and Fees

The tax rate for your Texas Franchise Tax Report will be determined by your business’s total revenue and/or the type of business you own. Good news? Most businesses won’t have to pay anything! The bad news is you’ll still be required to file a tax return. The chart below breaks down the tax rates and necessary forms into an easy-to-read guide.

No matter which form you file, your Texas Franchise Tax Report is due May 15th each year. (If May 15th falls on a weekend, the due date will be the following business day.) The other reports may be filed online or by mail. Online filings will be charged a $1 service fee.

How to File Your Texas Annual Franchise Tax Report

All businesses can file their reports online or by mail. If your business earns over $2.47 million in revenue per year, the process will be a bit more complicated and might require assistance from an attorney or CPA.

To File Online:

• Go to the Franchise Tax page.
• If you wish to file online, click “webfile eSystems Login.” If you wish you to file by mail, click “Forms.”
• Enter your username and password. You can create an account by clicking “Sign Up.”
• Once you’re successfully logged in, click “WebFile/Pay Taxes and Fees.”
• If your taxpayer account is already listed on your profile, select the 11-digit taxpayer ID number listed next to your account. If your account is not listed, you can add it to your profile by typing in your 11-digit taxpayer number. Then, click “continue.”

Note: If you need to find your taxpayer number, you can find it by searching the Texas Comptroller Business Database.

• Select the tax form you need to file under the Franchise Tax menu. Businesses with less than $2.47 million in annual revenue select either “File a Public Information Report” if you are reporting for a legally formed business like an LLC or corporation or “File an Ownership Information Report” for all other taxable entities. Click “Continue.”
• Select the report year. Click “Continue.”
• Confirm that you’re eligible to file the Public Information Report or Ownership Information Report and click “Continue.”
• Answer the “Additional Reports” questions and click “Continue.” If you are not familiar with one of the terms in a question, you can click “Help” for definitions.
• Enter your SIC and NAICS codes. (If you don’t have these codes, you can leave these fields blank.)
• Enter your accounting year beginning and end dates. (For calendar year taxpayers, the start date will be January 1st and the end date will be December 31st.)
• Answer the qualification questions to confirm that you’re eligible to file the Public Information Report or Ownership Information Report. (The answer to at least one of the questions must be yes to qualify.)
• Enter your business’s total revenue for the accounting year. Click “Continue.”
• Verify that your mailing address is correct. Click “Continue.”
• Update any incorrect information about your Principal Office, Officers, Directors, and Managers.
• Click on the box next to the Declaration Statement to confirm that the information is accurate. Click “Continue.”
• Review the information you’ve entered and make sure it’s accurate.
• Select “Submit Report.”
• Print or save your Confirmation Report for your records.

If you need additional help filing online, you can contact the Texas Comptroller’s office or check out the Comptroller website’s helpful Webfile video tutorials that will take you step by step through the process of creating a Webfile account and filing your taxes online.

To File By Mail:

• On the state website, go to the Franchise Tax page.
• To file by mail, click “Forms.”
• Under the heading “Downloadable Report Forms,” click the link for the year you wish to file for. The most current year will be listed first.
• LLCs, corporations, and partnerships, must file the Public Information Report and all other taxable entities must file the Ownership Information Report.
• Once the form(s) are filed, mail them to Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts PO Box 149348 Austin, TX 78714-9348.

Required Information for the Texas Annual Report

Here’s a list of information you’ll need to include on your Texas Franchise Tax Report:

• Business taxpayer number.
• Reporting year and due date.
• Business name and mailing address.
• Texas Secretary of State file number. You can find this number by searching the Texas Comptroller Business Database. It will be listed under the heading “Texas SOS File Number.”
• Fiscal year start and end date.
• Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code AND North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. Both codes are used by the US to classify businesses by their industry.
• Tax information. The remainder of the form will be used to calculate your total franchise tax due. You will need to know your total revenue for the previous fiscal year.

If you file online, you can pay any taxes due with a credit card or electronic check. Online payments will also incur an additional $1 service fee.

If you choose to file by mail, you must include a Texas Franchise Tax Payment Form and check or money order made payable to “Texas Comptroller.” You must also write your entity’s taxpayer number and reporting year on the check.

Northwest’s Annual Report Service

For $100 plus the state-mandated report fee, we’ll file your annual report for you. Correctly. On-time. And in the way that protects your privacy the most.

How does it work?

You can sign up for this service by itself or add it to an existing service. Once you’re signed up, you’ll pay nothing up front. We’ll send you a reminder 90 days before your filing due date and auto-charge your preferred payment method five days later if you don’t want us to cancel.

How can Northwest protect my privacy? 

At Northwest, you don’t have to figure out how to opt out of exposing your personal information. That’s because we practice Privacy by Default®. We automatically minimize the exposure of your data, without being asked.

Texas Annual Reports are public record. Any information you list on the form is easily searchable online. So we’ve designed our annual report service to protect your privacy.

Instead of your own information, we’ll use:

• Our contact information, including our street address when possible.
• Our IP address, which limits the connection between your cell phone, personal computer, and work computers to make it harder for advertisers to find you.
• Our bank and credit card information.

We believe everyone has the right to keep their information private. That’s why privacy is our guiding principle when we create every service and product.