How to Get a Texas Liquor License

Last updated: September 11, 2026

Texas splits the liquor license question cleanly in two. If you tend bar or wait tables: you need no state license at all — TABC seller/server certification is voluntary under state law, though nearly every employer requires it because certified staff protect the house’s own permit. If you are opening the business: TABC issues two-year permits, and the full-bar ticket — the Mixed Beverage Permit — costs $5,300 up front, falling to $2,650 at renewal. No quota, no broker market: the barrier in Texas is the price and the local wet/dry map.

Bartending in Texas: No License, but Get Certified Anyway

Texas law does not require individual bartenders, servers, or cashiers to hold a license or certification. In practice, TABC certification is the ticket to getting hired, and the reason is the employer’s, not yours:

• Safe harbor: if an illegal sale happens, the business’s permit is protected from administrative action when the seller held a current certificate from a TABC-approved school, all staff are certified within 30 days of hire, the employer has written responsible-service policies, and there are fewer than three violations in 12 months. The seller can still be arrested — the safe harbor protects the permit, not the person.
• Valid two years from issue, through TABC-approved schools, most of them online.
• Safe harbor also requires that the seller is not the owner or an officer of the business, and that the employer did not directly or indirectly encourage the violation. Both conditions are easy to miss and both can void the protection.

The One Course That Is Mandatory — and It Is Annual

Seller/server certification being voluntary does not mean nothing is required of you. Texas law requires sellers and servers at certain businesses — bars and nightclubs among them — to complete TABC’s opioid-related drug overdose course every year. It teaches how to recognize a possible fentanyl or opioid overdose and what to do about it.

• It is free, and it comes from TABC directly.
• It repeats annually — unlike seller/server certification, which runs two years and is optional.
• Restaurants and their staff are generally outside it. The requirement is aimed at bar and nightclub environments; a permanent food-service operation serving multiple entrees is treated differently. Confirm your own status with TABC rather than assuming, because the line runs on how the business is permitted and operated, not on what it calls itself.

So the honest summary for a Texas bartender: no license, no mandatory certification — but if you work a bar or nightclub, one free TABC course every year.

The Business Permits: What TABC Actually Issues

All retail permits run two years from the issue date and are applied for through AIMS, TABC’s online licensing system:

• Mixed Beverage Permit (MB) — liquor, beer, and wine by the drink, on-premises. $5,300 original, $2,650 renewal. Food-service operations may carry it with a Food and Beverage Certificate ($1,100).
• Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer’s Permit (BG) — $1,900. Note this authorizes beer and wine for on- and off-premise consumption, so a BG restaurant can also sell to-go; you do not need a separate store permit for that. The BQ ($1,900) is the off-premise-only version for shops.
• Retail Dealer’s On-Premise License (BE) — malt beverages only: $1,100.
• Package Store Permit (P) — the liquor store permit: $1,800. Wine-only package store (Q): $1,600.
• Late Hours Certificate — $1,100 where extended hours apply.
• Local certificates are prerequisites: the application requires city, county, and state certificates plus public notice and publisher affidavits — and it is notarized.

What It Costs

Item	Cost	Notes
Mixed Beverage Permit (MB) — original	$5,300	Two-year term; liquor by the drink
Mixed Beverage Permit — renewal	$2,650	Half the original fee
Wine & Malt Beverage Retailer (BG)	$1,900	Beer and wine, on- and off-premise; the off-premise-only BQ is also $1,900
Mixed beverage gross receipts tax	6.7% of gross receipts	Paid by the business, not the customer — it cannot be added as a separate charge
Mixed beverage sales tax	8.25%	On alcoholic drinks plus mixers and ice; may be passed to the customer
Conduct surety bond	$5,000 or $10,000	$10,000 within 1,000 feet of a public school; FB certificate holders exempt
Performance bond	$2,000	BE or BG without an FB certificate in Bexar, Harris, Dallas or Tarrant counties
Retail Dealer’s On-Premise (BE)	$1,100	Malt beverages only
Package Store Permit (P)	$1,800	Liquor store; wine-only (Q) $1,600
Food and Beverage Certificate (FB)	$1,100	Subordinate certificate for food-service permittees
Late Hours Certificate (LH)	$1,100	Extended serving hours
TABC seller/server certification	Set by approved schools	Voluntary by law; valid two years; employers require it
Texas LLC	$300	Certificate of formation (Form 205), Texas Secretary of State

No Quota, but a $5,300 Ticket — and a Wet/Dry Map

Texas does not ration retail permits. There is no population quota, no permit auction, no broker market where you pay six figures for somebody else’s license — the things that define opening a bar in quota states like Indiana. In Texas, $5,300 buys a new Mixed Beverage Permit anywhere one is allowed to exist, and the renewal drops to half.

The catch is the word allowed. Texas is a local-option state: counties, cities, and precincts have voted themselves wet or dry in various combinations, and what you can sell depends on the address. That is why TABC’s application makes you collect certificates from the city, county, and state before the permit issues — the local option check is built into the process. Two doors down the street can sit in a different precinct with different rules, so verify the address with the county clerk before signing the lease, not after.

The other planning number: TABC’s clock is 30–35 days from a complete application, and the pre-work — entity registration with the Secretary of State and Comptroller, public notices, publisher affidavits, notarization, local certificates — is what actually sets your opening date. Answer any TABC information request within its 10-business-day window or the application stalls.

The Permit Fee Is Not the Cost of a Texas Bar

$5,300 is the application fee, not the price of doing business. A Mixed Beverage Permit brings two Comptroller taxes that will, in any month with real liquor volume, dwarf the biennial TABC fee:

• Mixed beverage gross receipts tax — 6.7% of gross receipts. This one is yours: the permit holder owes it and cannot add it to the check as a separate charge. It applies to alcohol and to the non-alcoholic mixers and ice sold to go with it, consumed on the premises.
• Mixed beverage sales tax — 8.25% on alcoholic drinks plus mixers and ice. This one you may pass to the customer, as a line item or built into menu pricing.

Run the arithmetic before you sign anything. At 6.7%, the gross receipts tax alone equals the entire $2,650 two-year renewal once covered sales reach about $39,550 — which for a working bar is a matter of weeks, not years. Price your menu with the 6.7% already inside it, because you cannot bill it separately later.

Then the bonds. A retailer without a Food and Beverage Certificate must post a conduct surety bond — $5,000, rising to $10,000 if the premises sits within 1,000 feet of a public school. In Bexar, Harris, Dallas and Tarrant counties, a BE or BG holder without an FB certificate also posts a $2,000 performance bond. Holding an FB certificate exempts you from both — which is part of why that $1,100 certificate is often the cheapest line on the page. Mixed beverage permittees separately post tax security with the Comptroller.

How to Get Licensed, In Order

1. Check the wet/dry status of the exact address with the county clerk before committing to it.
2. Register the entity with the Texas Secretary of State and the Comptroller of Public Accounts — the application requires both.
3. Create an AIMS account and pick the permit that matches the concept: MB for a full bar, BG for beer and wine, P for a package store.
4. Complete the local steps — city, county, and state certificates, public notices, and publisher affidavits, with signatures notarized.
5. Submit through AIMS and stay responsive — 10 business days to answer any TABC request; 30–35 days to issuance from a complete application.
6. Certify the staff within 30 days of hire at a TABC-approved school and adopt written responsible-service policies — that is what keeps the safe harbor over your permit.
7. Post required signage before opening.

Staying Licensed

TABC permits expire two years after the issue date; the Mixed Beverage Permit renews at $2,650, other permits at their chart rate. Keep every seller’s certification current on its own two-year cycle and rehires certified within 30 days — the safe harbor holds only while all staff are covered and violations stay under three in any 12 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a liquor license cost in Texas?

Texas has no single liquor license — TABC issues permits by what and where you sell, all on two-year terms. The big one is the Mixed Beverage Permit for bars and restaurants selling liquor by the drink: $5,300 for the original two years, dropping to $2,650 at renewal. A Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer’s Permit (beer and wine, on and off premise) is $1,900, a beer-only Retail Dealer’s On-Premise License is $1,100, and a Package Store Permit for a liquor store is $1,800. Treat those as application fees rather than the cost of operating: a mixed beverage permittee also owes 6.7% gross receipts tax and collects 8.25% mixed beverage sales tax, and a retailer without a Food and Beverage Certificate posts a $5,000 or $10,000 conduct surety bond.

What taxes does a Texas bar pay on alcohol?

Two, and they work differently. The mixed beverage gross receipts tax is 6.7% of gross receipts, owed by the business itself — you cannot add it to the customer’s check as a separate charge, so it has to be built into your pricing. The mixed beverage sales tax is 8.25% on alcoholic drinks plus the mixers and ice sold with them, and that one may be passed to the customer as a line item or included in the menu price. Both apply to on-premises consumption at the permitted location, and together they matter far more to a bar’s economics than the two-year permit fee.

Do Texas bartenders have to take any mandatory training?

Seller/server certification is voluntary under state law, but there is a separate requirement people miss: Texas law requires sellers and servers at certain businesses, such as bars and nightclubs, to complete TABC’s opioid-related drug overdose course every year. It is free, it comes from TABC, and it repeats annually — unlike the optional two-year seller/server certification. Restaurant staff are generally outside the requirement; confirm your own situation with TABC, since it turns on how the business is permitted and operated.

Does a Texas restaurant need a Food and Beverage Certificate?

Often, and it does more than people expect. An FB certificate costs $1,100 and is available to a mixed beverage permittee that is a restaurant, or whose alcohol receipts are no more than 60% of the location’s receipts, with permanent food service offering multiple entrees. Holding one exempts you from the conduct surety bond and the performance bond, and in local-option areas that approved mixed beverages only for food and beverage certificate holders, it is the only route to serving spirits at all.

Do you need a license to bartend in Texas?

No — Texas is one of the states where individual bartenders and servers need no state-issued license. TABC seller/server certification is not required by state law, but most employers require it anyway, because keeping every seller certified (within 30 days of hire) is part of the safe-harbor defense that protects the business’s own permit if an employee makes an illegal sale. Certification comes from a TABC-approved school and is valid for two years.

How long does it take to get a TABC permit?

TABC’s published timeline is 30 to 35 days from the date it receives a complete application through AIMS, its online licensing system. You get 10 business days to respond to any information request, and incomplete or paper applications take significantly longer. The local certificates and public notice steps come before that clock starts.

What is a Texas Mixed Beverage Permit?

The permit that lets a bar or restaurant sell liquor, beer, and wine by the drink for on-premises consumption. It is the most expensive retail permit — $5,300 for the first two years, $2,650 to renew — and some food-service businesses carry it with a Food and Beverage Certificate ($1,100). Beer-and-wine-only concepts can run on the $1,900 Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer’s Permit instead, which is the common restaurant compromise.

Can you sell alcohol anywhere in Texas?

No — Texas is a local-option state. Whether alcohol can be sold at your address, and what kinds, depends on the wet/dry status of the county, city, or even precinct, decided by local elections. That is why the TABC application requires certificates from the city, county, and state before a permit issues. Check the address before you sign the lease.

Does Texas limit the number of liquor licenses?

There is no population quota on Texas retail permits — unlike states such as Indiana, where new bar permits are auctioned from a capped pool. In Texas the barrier is price and geography: $5,300 buys a new Mixed Beverage Permit anywhere the local option allows it, with no broker market in between.

Forming the company, taxes, insurance, and hiring are covered in our full guide to starting a business in Texas.

Sources

Source	What It Covers
TABC — License and Permit Fees Chart (two-year fees, effective 9/1/21)	Every permit fee quoted: MB $5,300/$2,650, BG $1,900, P $1,800, FB $1,100
TABC — License and Permit Fees Chart page	Two-year expiry: licenses and permits expire two years after the issue date
TABC — New Licenses and Permits (AIMS process)	AIMS application, SOS/Comptroller registration, public notices and publisher affidavits, city/county/state certificates, 30-35 day timeline, 10-day response window
TABC — Certification FAQs	Certification voluntary under state law, valid two years, safe-harbor conditions including the 30-day hire window, the owner/officer bar and the no-encouragement condition
TABC — Certification (opioid course)	Texas law requires sellers and servers at certain businesses such as bars and nightclubs to take the free TABC opioid-related drug overdose course each year
Texas Comptroller — Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts Tax	The 6.7% rate, owed by the permittee and not chargeable to the customer as a separate item
Texas Comptroller — Mixed Beverage Sales Tax	The 8.25% rate on alcoholic beverages, mixers and ice, which may be passed to the customer
TABC — Bonds	Conduct surety bond of $5,000, or $10,000 within 1,000 feet of a public school; $2,000 performance bond for BE/BG without an FB certificate in Bexar, Harris, Dallas and Tarrant counties; FB certificate holders exempt from both
Texas SOS — Form 205, Certificate of Formation (LLC)	$300 LLC filing fee