Texas has no state income tax, but the 2026 deadline calendar is still full: the next major dates are August 17, 2026 (extended franchise tax reports for mandatory EFT payers) and September 15, 2026 (federal Q3 estimated taxes). The original franchise tax deadline was May 15, 2026, with a no-tax-due threshold of $2.65 million in annualized revenue. Sales tax returns run on their own cycle, due the 20th of the month after each reporting period.
If you missed May 15 and never requested an extension, file now: the Texas Comptroller adds a $50 late-filing penalty per report plus 5% of any tax due (10% if more than 30 days late), and an unfiled report eventually costs your entity its right to do business in Texas.
Key takeaways:
Save this cheat sheet — every 2026 Texas deadline in one image.
| Deadline | What's Due | Who It Applies To |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 31 | Q2 wage report and unemployment tax (TWC) | Texas employers |
| Aug 17 | First extended franchise tax report | Mandatory EFT payers who extended in May |
| Sep 15 | Federal Q3 estimated tax; extended Forms 1065 and 1120-S | Self-employed; extended partnerships and S corps |
| Oct 15 | Extended federal Form 1040 and Form 1120 | Individuals and C corps on extension |
| Oct 20 | Q3 sales tax return | Quarterly sales tax filers |
| Nov 16 | Final extended franchise tax report | All extended filers |
| Jan 15, 2027 | Federal Q4 estimated tax | Self-employed and other 1040-ES payers |
| Jan 20, 2027 | Q4 and annual sales tax returns | Quarterly and yearly sales tax filers |
| Deadline | What Was Due |
|---|---|
| Feb 2 | W-2s and 1099-NECs to recipients and the IRS (Jan 31 fell on a Saturday) |
| Mar 16 | Federal partnership (1065) and S corp (1120-S) returns |
| Apr 15 | Federal Form 1040, Form 1120, Q1 estimates; business personal property rendition |
| May 15 | Texas franchise tax report + Public Information Report |
| Jun 15 | Federal Q2 estimated tax |
| Jul 20 | Q2 sales tax return |
No IRS disaster postponements currently apply to Texas: the flood-relief window for the 2025 Hill Country storms (TX-2025-04) closed on February 2, 2026.
No. Texas is one of the states with no personal income tax, and the Texas Constitution bans one without voter approval. There is no state Form 1040 equivalent, no state estimated tax payments for individuals, and no state return to extend in April.
That is exactly where Texas business owners get hurt. The state replaces the income tax with a different set of obligations, and each one has its own calendar:
At Anna Money we supported 60,000+ UK small businesses that answered to a single national tax authority. Texas owners answer to at least three (the Comptroller, the IRS, and their county), and in my experience the ones who miss deadlines are almost always tracking only the federal calendar.
The Texas franchise tax is an annual privilege tax on entities formed or doing business in Texas: LLCs, corporations, limited partnerships, and professional associations. Sole proprietorships and most general partnerships owned directly by individuals are not subject to it. The annual report is due May 15, or the next business day when the 15th falls on a weekend; in 2026 that was Friday, May 15.
Your 2026 report is based on the accounting period that ended in 2025. A calendar-year LLC reports its 2025 revenue on the report due May 15, 2026. New entities file their first annual report the year after formation, so a Texas LLC formed in 2025 owed its first report by May 15, 2026. If you are just forming a Texas LLC, the franchise account starts automatically with your Secretary of State registration.
According to the Texas Comptroller, the no-tax-due threshold for 2026 reports is $2,650,000 in annualized total revenue, up from $2.47 million for 2024-2025 reports. At or below that revenue, your entity owes zero franchise tax.
Since report year 2024, Texas no longer requires a No Tax Due Report (the old Form 05-163). Below the threshold, you skip the tax report entirely, but you must still file one of these with the Comptroller by May 15:
One narrow exception: pre-qualified new veteran-owned businesses file nothing at all for their first five years.
Above the threshold, tax is a percentage of your "margin," and Texas lets you compute margin four different ways, taking whichever is lowest:
| Margin method | 2026 computation |
|---|---|
| 70% of total revenue | Revenue × 0.70 |
| Revenue minus cost of goods sold | Revenue − COGS |
| Revenue minus compensation | Revenue − wages/benefits (capped at $480,000 per person) |
| Revenue minus $1 million | Revenue − $1,000,000 |
The margin is then apportioned to Texas and taxed at 0.375% for retailers and wholesalers or 0.75% for everyone else. Businesses with revenue of $20 million or less can instead use the EZ Computation (Form 05-169): 0.331% of apportioned revenue with no deductions.
Worked example. Marisol runs a Houston-based online retail LLC with $3.1 million in 2025 revenue and $1.9 million in COGS, all Texas sales:
| Method | Margin | Tax at 0.375% |
|---|---|---|
| 70% of revenue | $2,170,000 | $8,137.50 |
| Revenue − COGS | $1,200,000 | $4,500.00 |
| Revenue − $1M | $2,100,000 | $7,875.00 |
| EZ Computation (0.331% of revenue) | n/a | $10,261.00 |
The COGS method wins: Marisol owes $4,500, not the $10,261 the "simpler" EZ route would cost her. Run your own numbers with the Texas franchise tax calculator.
For a deeper look at how the tax works, see our Texas franchise tax primer and the report forms and filing walkthrough.
Texas grants franchise extensions only if you requested one by the original May 15 due date, with payment attached. The rules split by how you pay.
Non-EFT filers (most small businesses): one extension request moved your filing deadline to November 16, 2026 (November 15 is a Sunday). The May request had to include payment of at least 90% of the tax that will be due, or 100% of the tax reported on your 2025 report.
Mandatory EFT payers, meaning entities that paid $10,000 or more in franchise tax in the previous state fiscal year, use a two-step extension:
| Step | Deadline | What's required |
|---|---|---|
| First extension | May 15, 2026 (passed) | Pay 90% of the current-year tax or 100% of the prior-year tax; filing moves to Aug 17 |
| Second extension | Aug 17, 2026 (Aug 15 is a Saturday) | Pay the remaining balance of tax due; filing moves to Nov 16 |
| Final filing | Nov 16, 2026 | File the report; settle any small difference |
Underpay the extension and the extension still holds, but penalty and interest apply to any part of the 90% not paid by May 15 and to any remainder not paid by the extended deadline. The extension moves the paperwork, not the money.
Texas sales tax returns are due on the 20th of the month following the end of the reporting period. The Comptroller assigns your filing frequency when your sales tax permit is approved, based on how much tax you collect: roughly, monthly filers collect $500 or more in state sales tax per month, quarterly filers less than $500 per month, and yearly filers less than $1,000 per year.
| Filer type | Period | 2026 due dates |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | Prior calendar month | 20th of every month |
| Quarterly | Q1 / Q2 / Q3 / Q4 | Apr 20, Jul 20, Oct 20, 2026, and Jan 20, 2027 |
| Yearly | Calendar year 2026 | Jan 20, 2027 |
Two details worth money: permitted taxpayers who file and pay on time keep a 0.5% discount on the tax due, and prepayers earn an extra 1.25%. And a return is due even for a zero-sales period; skipping a "nothing to report" filing still triggers a $50 late-filing penalty.
Check your exact schedule, including local rates for every state you sell into, with the Texas sales tax due dates page, part of our 50-state sales tax calendar.
With no state income tax, the IRS calendar is the only income tax calendar a Texan tracks. The 2026 federal dates:
| Date | What's due |
|---|---|
| Apr 15, 2026 (passed) | Form 1040, Form 1120, Q1 estimated payment |
| Jun 15, 2026 (passed) | Q2 estimated payment |
| Sep 15, 2026 | Q3 estimated payment; extended Forms 1065 and 1120-S |
| Oct 15, 2026 | Extended Form 1040 and Form 1120 |
| Jan 15, 2027 | Q4 2026 estimated payment |
Estimated payments deserve special attention in Texas. Self-employment income that would be taxed twice in California or New York is taxed once here, but the federal quarterly system (Form 1040-ES: April 15, June 15, September 15, January 15) applies in full, with the same underpayment penalty rules as everywhere else. The full federal picture for freelancers is in our self-employed tax deadlines calendar.
TWC unemployment tax. Texas employers file quarterly wage reports with the Texas Workforce Commission by the last day of the month after each quarter: the Q2 2026 report is due July 31, 2026, then October 31 (November 2, since the 31st is a Saturday) and February 1, 2027.
Business personal property rendition. Businesses report taxable personal property (equipment, inventory, furniture) to their county appraisal district by April 15 each year, with an automatic extension to May 15 on written request.
Property tax payment. 2026 property tax bills arrive in October and are due by January 31, 2027 (February 1, since the 31st falls on a Sunday), after which penalties start at 6% and climb monthly.
The single most expensive Texas assumption. An LLC with $80,000 in revenue owes zero franchise tax but still owes a Public Information Report by May 15. Miss it and the Comptroller assesses the $50 late penalty, and continued non-filing leads to forfeiture of your right to transact business, which strips the liability protection the LLC exists to provide.
EZ (0.331% of revenue) looks attractive because it skips the margin math. As Marisol's example shows, a retailer with real COGS can pay more than double under EZ ($10,261 vs $4,500). Compute at least two methods before filing.
In 2026, August 15 is a Saturday and November 15 is a Sunday, so the real deadlines are August 17 and November 16. Calendar reminders copied from a prior year will be two days early at best; a payment scheduled "on the 15th" through a bank that doesn't process weekends can land late.
A Texas franchise extension is not the federal automatic extension. If you filed Form 05-164 without paying 90% of the current-year tax (or 100% of last year's), penalty and interest have been accruing on the shortfall since May 15, even though your filing deadline validly moved.
Texas businesses run three unsynchronized calendars: the Comptroller's May 15 franchise cycle, sales tax on the 20th, and the IRS quarterly rhythm. Jupid connects to your business bank accounts and categorizes every transaction with 95.9% accuracy, so your revenue number, the figure that decides whether you're under the $2.65 million threshold and what your margin looks like, is always current. Ask the AI accountant in WhatsApp or iMessage "am I under the Texas franchise threshold this year?" and get an answer built from your actual books, plus reminders before each federal quarterly date. Try Jupid.
This guide is for general educational purposes and does not constitute tax, legal, or accounting advice. Deadlines shift when they fall on weekends or holidays, and franchise tax obligations depend on your entity type, revenue, and accounting period. For advice specific to your situation, consult a qualified tax professional or the Texas Comptroller at comptroller.texas.gov.
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