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Starting a business in Dallas, Texas

Dallas's official pages reviewed do not describe a general business license. Instead, Dallas requires a Certificate of Occupancy for any use other than single-family and duplex, an annual food establishment permit for restaurants and other retail food businesses, and special licenses for a short list of regulated activities. Unincorporated businesses using an assumed name file with the Dallas County Clerk. Since July 1, 2026, food trucks are licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services, not the city.

Every item checked November 6, 2026 against the linked official source. Fees are shown only where an official source documents them, and they’re paid directly to the agency listed — FirstBizGuide isn’t a government agency and doesn’t charge fees or file applications. Not legal advice.

About your business (choose all that apply)

  • Register your business

    • File a Certificate of Formation (Form 205 for an LLC, Form 201 for a for-profit corporation); the filing fee is $300 for either. File online through SOSPortal for faster processing, or by mail or in person in Austin. Reserving a name first is optional ($40 for 120 days). [source] [source]

      • Certificate of Formation (LLC or for-profit corporation): $300 [source]

      Agency: Texas Secretary of State

    • Sole proprietors and general partnerships file with the county clerk in each county where they keep a business office. LLCs and corporations file with the Texas Secretary of State instead ($25, Form 503) and no longer need a county filing. A certificate lasts up to 10 years and must be refiled to keep using the name; it does not stop others from using the same name. Texas has no general state business license; this registration fills that role. [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: County clerk (sole proprietors) or Texas Secretary of State (LLCs and corporations)

    • The IRS issues EINs free. Sites that charge for this are third parties. [source]

      Agency: Internal Revenue Service

  • State and city tax licenses

    • Required if you sell or lease tangible personal property or sell taxable services in Texas. There is no fee, but the Comptroller may require a security bond. Apply online through eSystems and allow 2–3 weeks for the permit. You need a permit for each active place of business. [source] [source]

      Agency: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

    • LLCs and other taxable entities organized or doing business in Texas file an annual franchise tax report, due May 15. For 2026 and 2027 reports the no-tax-due threshold is $2,650,000 in revenue; at or below it you still file a Public Information Report or Ownership Information Report. Sole proprietorships that aren't legally organized to limit liability are not taxable entities. [source] [source]

      Agency: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

  • If you hire employees

    • Register on TWC's free online Unemployment Tax Registration system within 10 days of becoming liable, generally once you pay $1,500 in wages in a calendar quarter or have an employee in 20 different weeks of a year. Then file quarterly wage reports electronically, report each new or rehired employee to the Texas Attorney General's New Hire Reporting center within 20 days, and display the required workplace posters. [source] [source]

      Agency: Texas Workforce Commission

  • Industry licenses

    • Texas has no statewide license for general contractors or roofers. Specific trades are licensed: electrical work and electrical contractors, and air conditioning, refrigeration and heating contractors, by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR); plumbing by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. Your city may still require contractor registration or permits. [source] [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: TDLR and Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners

  • Food businesses

    • Cities and counties with their own health department permit and inspect fixed and temporary food establishments; DSHS covers the rest of the state. Mobile food vendors (food trucks) are different: since July 1, 2026, DSHS is solely responsible for licensing them statewide, and local mobile food permits no longer apply. Ask your city or county which agency covers a fixed location. [source] [source]

      Agency: Local health department or Texas DSHS

    • Cottage food operations can sell from home up to $150,000 in annual gross income, directly to consumers or through farmers' markets, farm stands and retail stores, with no local license or permit. You must complete a food handler course and label products with the required home-production statement. Registration with DSHS is required only for time- and temperature-controlled foods and for some resellers. [source]

      Agency: Texas DSHS

    • Food establishment permits are required for restaurants, bars, grocery stores, schools and other retail food establishments. Apply with the Food Establishment Permit Application (CCS-FRM-424) with valid government photo ID, the owner's Texas sales and use tax permit and the inspection fee; you schedule required health inspections with your permitting inspector. For new construction, remodels, ownership changes or change of use, contact Planning & Development (214-670-4127). Kiosks and self-service establishments need plan review with blueprints, equipment specification sheets and a commissary form. Annual permit fees are due Dec. 31 each year (a $100 late fee applies after that): Risk Level One $141 (up to 2,000 sq. ft.) or $155 (over 2,000); Level Two $283 or $308; Level Three $468 or $513. An inspection score below 80% brings a $150 re-inspection fee; facility or owner name changes cost $125-$375 by gross annual food sales. Consumer Health: (214) 670-8083. [source] [source]

      • Dallas food establishment permit, Risk Level Two, up to 2,000 sq. ft.: $283 per year [source]

      Agency: City of Dallas Code Compliance, Consumer Health Division

    • Dallas Consumer Health says that effective July 1, 2026, the Texas Department of State Health Services is solely responsible for licensing, inspecting and enforcing food safety for mobile food vendors statewide (Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 437B), and local mobile food vending permits were eliminated under Dallas Ordinance No. 33283. Apply through the DSHS Mobile Food Vendor Program (512-834-6727). Vendors must still comply with City of Dallas zoning, fire safety, property-use and location rules. Existing Dallas County permits are no longer administered locally; check with DSHS on transition. [source]

      Agency: Texas DSHS / City of Dallas Consumer Health

  • Business name

    • Search for name availability first at dallas.tx.publicsearch.us, including abbreviations and symbols. Apply online through the clerk's Assumed Name Application, on the research library computers in the office, in person (every owner must be present with valid government-issued ID and the form is acknowledged by a deputy), or by mail with a notarized form, a properly sized self-addressed stamped envelope (filings without one will not be recorded) and payment to the County Clerk, Recording Division. The filing fee is $23.00 plus $0.50 for each additional owner after the first; add a $2.00 acknowledgement fee if a deputy takes the acknowledgment instead of a notary. The clerk does not accept personal checks; the procedures page lists money orders, cashier's checks or credit cards (the mail-in section also mentions business checks, so confirm before mailing). Recording Division: (214) 653-7099, weekdays 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Corporations and LLCs file assumed names with the Texas Secretary of State. [source] [source]

      Agency: Dallas County Clerk, Recording Division

  • City licenses

    • Dallas's Special Collections office issues annual licenses for specific activities: amusement centers ($15 per coin-operated machine a year), billiard halls ($30 per regulated table a year), precious metal vendors ($245 per location a year), sexually oriented businesses ($750 a year), dance halls, beer and liquor sales (for businesses approved by the state), and state-taxed coin-operated machines. Amusement centers, billiard halls, dance halls and sexually oriented businesses need Dallas Police Vice Control Division approval. The Certificate of Occupancy page notes that if a special license is required, an additional fee is assessed at the end of CO review. [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Dallas Special Collections

    • Dallas's general contractor registration form covers residential and commercial builders and fence, foundation repair, demolition, swimming pool, and landscaping or tree service contractors, among others. Contractors located in Dallas give a Certificate of Occupancy number or have a home office (Home Occupation Declaration) form on file. The registration form reviewed is dated REV 01-09-2013 and lists no fees, so confirm current requirements with Dallas Building Inspection. [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Dallas Planning & Development (Building Inspection)

  • Zoning and home businesses

    • Dallas's Certificate of Occupancy rules except single-family and duplex uses. The city's Home Occupation Declaration form (undated) lists the home occupation conditions of the Dallas Development Code: no advertising, sign or display on the premises and no home address on off-site ads; no more than one non-resident employee on the premises, for four hours or less a week; activity only inside the main structure (not porches, decks, patios, garages or unenclosed areas); no more than 3 non-residents on the premises at a time; no loud or raucous noise; no sale of products on the property; no unreasonable traffic or parking congestion; and no more than 25% or 400 square feet of the main structure's floor area, whichever is less. Contractors without a commercial place of business in Dallas use this declaration in place of a CO when registering, and violations can lead to revocation of the contractor's registration. [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Dallas Planning & Development

    • Except for single-family and duplex uses, a building or land can't be used, or its use changed, without a Certificate of Occupancy. A new CO is needed for the first use, a change of use, a change of tenant on an existing CO, or a change in floor area; a change of business name only (DBA) is a "record change" ($30). Submit the application and Land Use Questionnaire through DallasNow with the fee. If the use differs from the previous use, the application goes to building code and zoning review and you may need a site plan, floor plan and parking analysis; if the use is unchanged, schedule inspections once the application is approved and paid. After pre-screen you get an invoice; after payment and review, inspections; the CO or temporary CO is released when all inspections pass. Fees listed on the CO page include $375 General Permit CO, $500 temporary CO, $104 partial CO, $113 validation inspection and $30 duplicate CO. Alcohol establishments should see the Alcohol Measurement Checklist. [source]

      Agency: City of Dallas Planning & Development (Building Inspection)

Not yet verified for Dallas: No official City of Dallas page reviewed states outright that Dallas has no general business license; Which Certificate of Occupancy fee applies to a standard new commercial CO (the CO page lists specific CO fees but not a general new-CO amount); Current Dallas contractor registration requirements and fees (the registration form reviewed is from 2013); Whether the undated Home Occupation Declaration reflects the current Dallas Development Code home occupation section; Dallas food establishment application inspection fee amount (not listed) and how risk levels are assigned; Texas DSHS mobile food vendor license fees and the city's mobile vending location rules; Dallas County assumed name certificate term or expiration (not stated on the procedures page); Fees for Dallas dance hall, beer, liquor and coin-operated machine licenses (not stated on the page); Sign permit requirements and fees.
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Sources