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Starting a business in San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio's official pages reviewed do not describe a general business license; what the city does require is a Certificate of Occupancy for every business, which Development Services says is required for all businesses in the city. Unincorporated businesses using a name other than the owner's file an assumed name certificate with the Bexar County Clerk. Food businesses buy a Metro Health food establishment permit (annual, based on gross food sales) through Development Services, and food trucks now get their license from the Texas Department of State Health Services plus a San Antonio Fire Department mobile vending permit if they cook or use a generator.

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

    • Required for any operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves or provides food for human consumption, including restaurants, retail food stores, caterers, markets and institutions. Businesses selling only prepackaged foods that don't need time/temperature control for safety no longer need a food permit. Steps: confirm the location is zoned for the activity; obtain a Certificate of Occupancy at the One Stop center (1901 S. Alamo St.); building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, environmental, health and fire inspections must be approved and recorded first; then buy the permit through Development Services, presenting a valid CO (210-207-0135). Annual permit fee by gross annual food sales: under $50,000 $310; $50,000-$149,999 $618; $150,000 or more $928. Other fees: $139 pre-CO consultation inspection, $150 reinspection beyond the normal schedule, $150 health licensing inspection for an ownership change without a new CO, $100 late fee (over 30 days overdue), $154 for operating without a proper permit. Establishments must also meet Texas Accessibility Standards. [source] [source]

      • Metro Health food establishment permit (gross food sales under $50,000): $310 per year [source]

      Agency: San Antonio Metropolitan Health District / Development Services

    • Metro Health says that starting July 1, 2026, mobile food vendors must be licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to operate a food vending vehicle in Texas, and food vending vehicles may not operate on a temporary food permit; city mobile vending inspections ended June 30, 2026 and DSHS now schedules inspections (DSHS: 512-406-2644, [email protected]). A fire inspection is required yearly for the DSHS license if the vehicle uses propane, a generator, or a gas, charcoal or wood-burning grill. The San Antonio Fire Department requires a Fire Mobile Vending Permit when cooking or heating happens in the unit or a generator is used: register in BuildSA, review the Mobile Food Inspection Checklist, and schedule the inspection; the SAFD page states a $300.00 permit fee plus a 3% surcharge for all mobile food vending units (it doesn't say how often it is paid). City rules on Metro Health's page: park on a paved surface, no vending from residential property, stay 300 feet from a school's property line from an hour before to an hour after school hours, and on public streets stay 50 feet from an intersection and sell from the curb side or rear. The Downtown Business District needs a special permit (Downtown Operations, 210-207-3677) and city parks need permission from Parks and Recreation (210-207-8480). [source] [source]

      Agency: Texas DSHS / San Antonio Fire Department / Metro Health

  • Business name

    • Unincorporated businesses file Assumed Name certificates with the Bexar County Clerk (corporations and LLCs file with the Texas Secretary of State). The certificate is signed by an officer, general partner, member, manager or authorized attorney-in-fact, and each business partner must sign before a notary; you can use your own notary or have a County Clerk deputy acknowledge it for $1.00. File in person at the Assumed Name/DBA Office in the Paul Elizondo Tower, at the Southside Annex, or at a "Records on the Run" mobile location; or by mail with the notarized certificate and fee. You can also start the application online, then pay and finish in person within five days. The fee is $13.00 for one owner plus $0.50 for each additional owner; certified copies are $7.00. Pay by cash, credit card (not American Express), or check or money order payable to the Bexar County Clerk; temporary checks are not accepted. Certificates can't be amended: if the information becomes materially misleading, file a new certificate, and file a Notice of Abandonment when you stop using the name. [source]

      Agency: Bexar County Clerk

  • Zoning and home businesses

    • Development Services states that a Certificate of Occupancy is required for all businesses in the City of San Antonio, and each tenant space in a multi-tenant building needs its own CO for its approved use. For a change of use, submit the CO application form or apply online through the BuildSA portal; the city schedules inspections, typically building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and fire, and food businesses may also need a Metro Health inspection. If ownership or the lessee changes but the use stays basically the same, file the Application to Update an Existing Certificate of Occupancy for a name change. Bed & breakfasts, boarding homes, community homes and assisted living, head shops, live entertainment, salvage yards and metal recyclers, and transitional homes always need a new CO. Fees are on the Development Services fee schedule (not listed on the CO page). Help: Cliff Morton Development and Business Services Center (One Stop), 210-207-1111. [source]

      Agency: City of San Antonio Development Services

Not yet verified for San Antonio: No official City of San Antonio page reviewed states outright whether the city has a general business license (the 311 knowledge-base article could not be opened); Home occupation rules for San Antonio (the Unified Development Code home occupation section was not available on an official page reviewed), and whether the 'all businesses' CO requirement applies to home-based businesses; Certificate of Occupancy fees (on the Development Services fee schedule, not reviewed); Whether the SAFD $300 mobile vending permit fee is annual or one-time, and Texas DSHS mobile food vendor license fees; Bexar County assumed name certificate term or expiration (not stated on the clerk's page); Food manager and food handler registration requirements (linked from Metro Health but not reviewed); Sign permit requirements and fees.
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Sources