A Texas restaurant or bar with a mixed beverage permit files three tax returns a month, not one. Alcohol served on the premises carries two mixed beverage taxes: a 6.7% gross receipts tax the business pays out of its own pocket, and an 8.25% mixed beverage sales tax collected from the customer. Everything else, from food and soft drinks to to-go wine, goes on the regular Texas sales tax return.
This guide explains which permit triggers which tax, how a POS sales report maps to each return, the due dates and bonds, and the Texas restaurant sales tax rules that sit next to them. The rules are from the Texas Comptroller’s mixed beverage tax pages. The bookkeeping that supports them is in how to set up restaurant books.
Which permit triggers which tax?
| Permit | 6.7% gross receipts tax | 8.25% mixed beverage sales tax | Regular sales tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed beverage permit (full bar) | Yes, on alcohol served for consumption on the premises, including beer and wine | Yes, on the same sales | Yes, on food, drinks sold without alcohol, to-go alcohol and merchandise |
| Private club registration permit | Yes | Yes | Yes, on non-alcohol sales |
| Wine and malt beverage retailer’s permit (beer and wine only) | No | No | Yes, including beer and wine sales |
| No alcohol permit | No | No | Yes |
The Comptroller’s FAQ lists the permits that count as mixed beverage permittees, including nonprofit temporary event permits and distiller’s and rectifier’s permits. It says a wine and malt beverage retailer’s permit is not one of them, so a beer-and-wine restaurant collects regular sales tax on its alcohol instead.
What do the 6.7% and 8.25% taxes cover, and who pays?
Both taxes apply to the same sales: distilled spirits, beer, ale and wine sold, prepared or served for consumption on the premises. They also cover ice and non-alcoholic mixers sold to be mixed with alcohol, and fees for bartenders or servers who prepare or serve alcohol. The difference is who bears them.
| Mixed beverage gross receipts tax | Mixed beverage sales tax | |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | 6.7% | 8.25%, the same everywhere in Texas |
| Who bears it | The permittee. It can’t be added to the price as a separate charge or deducted from the amount received (Comptroller) | The customer. You collect it and send it in (Comptroller) |
| On the bill | Not charged. You may show the amount for information, but anything labeled “tax” on a bill is owed to the state on top | Shown as a separate line, or included in the drink price. Pick one method and stick with it |
| In your books | An expense (Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts Tax) | A liability (Mixed Beverage Taxes Payable), not income |
If your drink prices include the 8.25%, take it out before figuring the 6.7%. The Comptroller says the mixed beverage sales tax must be deducted from the amount received before gross receipts tax is calculated. Divide tax-included alcohol receipts by 1.0825 to get the base for both taxes.
How much is due? A worked example
A Houston bar and grill has one month of sales, priced before tax. The figures are hypothetical.
| Sales from the POS | Amount | Return |
|---|---|---|
| Liquor and cocktails, served | $30,000 | Both mixed beverage returns |
| Beer, served | $8,000 | Both mixed beverage returns |
| Wine, served | $12,000 | Both mixed beverage returns |
| Food | $80,000 | Regular sales tax |
| Non-alcoholic drinks sold on their own | $6,000 | Regular sales tax |
| Wine bottles to go | $1,000 | Regular sales tax |
| Return | Taxable sales | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed beverage gross receipts tax | $50,000 | 6.7% | $3,350, paid by the business |
| Mixed beverage sales tax | $50,000 | 8.25% | $4,125, collected from customers |
| Regular sales tax (Houston: 6.25% state + 2% local) | $87,000 | 8.25% | $7,177.50, collected from customers |
The $3,350 is a real cost. It comes out of beverage margin, which is why your restaurant P&L should carry it as its own expense line. If the same bar priced drinks tax-included, the POS would show $54,125 of alcohol sales, and dividing by 1.0825 gets back to the same $50,000 base.
How do POS categories map to the returns?
This is where most mistakes happen. The POS doesn’t know which return a sale belongs to; your category setup does. We build every month’s workpaper from the POS category sales report using this map:
| POS category | Where it goes | Line on the gross receipts return |
|---|---|---|
| Liquor, cocktails, bottle service, shots | Both mixed beverage returns | Liquor |
| Beer (draft, bottle, can) | Both mixed beverage returns | Beer and malt liquor |
| Wine (glass and bottle served on site) | Both mixed beverage returns | Wine |
| Bartender or server fees for events | Both mixed beverage returns | Per the return instructions |
| Comped drinks | Gross receipts return, information only; ingredient cost on the sales tax return as a taxable purchase | Complimentary drinks (not added to the total) |
| Food, desserts, appetizers | Regular sales tax | |
| Soft drinks, coffee, tea and other drinks sold on their own | Regular sales tax | |
| To-go, pickup or delivery alcohol | Regular sales tax | |
| Cover charges | Regular sales tax, unless TABC finds a violation (return instructions) | Cover charges, only after a TABC determination |
| Merchandise, gift card sales | Merchandise: regular sales tax. Gift cards: not a sale until redeemed |
Three setup rules keep this clean:
- Split alcohol by type in the POS (liquor, beer, wine), because the gross receipts return reports them on separate lines.
- Give to-go alcohol its own category. It’s taxed differently from the same bottle served at the table.
- Ring mixers into the drink, not as separate items. A soda poured into a cocktail is part of the mixed beverage. A soda sold on its own is regular sales tax.
Anything uncategorized (“Open item”, “Misc”) gets reviewed before filing. When in doubt, we ask the client rather than guess.
When are Texas mixed beverage returns due?
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Filing frequency | Monthly, with a separate return for each tax |
| Due date | The 20th of the month after the reporting period, moved to the next business day if it falls on a weekend or holiday. March sales are due April 20 |
| How to file | Webfile or paper forms; Webfile is required once you paid $50,000 or more in the prior state fiscal year (September 1 to August 31), and TEXNET is required for payment at $500,000 or more |
| Late filing | $50 per late report |
| Late payment | 5% if 1 to 30 days late, 10% after 30 days, plus interest starting on day 61 |
The penalties are from the Comptroller’s FAQ. Your regular sales tax return is filed on its own schedule, which the Comptroller assigns based on how much tax you collect. For federal dates such as estimated taxes, W-2s and 1099s, see small business tax deadlines for 2027.
What is the mixed beverage tax bond?
Mixed beverage permittees post two security bonds with the Comptroller, one for the gross receipts tax and one for the mixed beverage sales tax. These are on top of any bond the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) requires.
For bonds effective since January 1, 2014, the Comptroller’s bond table lists these amounts per bond:
| Permit | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed beverage | $3,750 | $100,000 |
| Private club | $2,250 | $100,000 |
| Private club exemption | $1,500 | $100,000 |
A footnote on the maximum adds “or four times the permittee’s monthly average tax liability, whichever is greater.” In practice, a higher-volume bar should expect a larger bond than the minimum. The bond page cites Tax Code sections 183.025 and 183.043, and the Comptroller can be reached at 800-252-8880 for your exact amount.
How does Texas sales tax work for restaurants?
Regular sales tax covers everything outside the mixed beverage returns:
- Rate. 6.25% state plus up to 2% local, for a maximum of 8.25% (Pub. 94-105). Most Texas cities, Houston included, are at the 8.25% cap.
- Food. Ready-to-eat food is taxable even to go. Bakery items sold without plates or utensils aren’t (Pub. 94-117).
- Tips. Voluntary tips aren’t taxed. A mandatory gratuity of 20% or less isn’t taxed if it’s labeled as a gratuity and paid only to the staff who serve; above 20% it’s taxable (same publication).
- Comps and employee meals. Complimentary meals and drinks aren’t taxable, but tax is due on taxable items given away, such as soft drinks. Meals for employees who prepare or serve food, provided for the owner’s convenience around their shift, aren’t taxable.
- Purchases. Paper napkins, to-go containers and plastic utensils given to customers can be bought tax free with a resale certificate. Reusable items such as plates, glasses, trays and furniture are taxable.
How do you keep the three returns right every month?
- Close the books from the POS first. Daily sales entries with alcohol split by type, as in the restaurant chart of accounts, mean the returns come straight from the books.
- Build one workpaper per month. Pull the POS category sales report, assign every category to one of the three returns, total each return, and round return lines to whole dollars.
- Tie it out. Mixed beverage sales tax and regular sales tax collected should match the payable accounts in the books. The 6.7% goes to its expense line.
- File by the 20th, and keep the POS report and workpaper with the return. An audit starts from the POS data.
We do this every month for Texas restaurants and bars, alongside the books. See what our restaurant bookkeeping includes, or book a free call and bring last month’s POS category report.