Business Tax Accountant Houston Alternative. Dates in the city stay with the books.

The city tax inside a sale

A hot humid summer is the stretch an air conditioning shop plans around, and we want those service months closed.

The property list and the franchise report are still waiting even after a federal return went out. They are separate pages, and we prepare them from closed months.

Closed months make May a filing. Open months make May a scramble.

Inside the city the combined sales tax on a sale is 8.25 percent. Split it as 6.25 for the state, 1 for the city, and 1 for Houston METRO. Harris County leaves that local point to METRO. A June bid and an August permit can both use that same combined rate. The permitting fee is the line that changes, not this tax.

Houston METRO reaches farther than a quick look at the map suggests. A Bellaire storefront and a yard in Humble can both carry the METRO point, while an address just past the member cities can drop it. Check the address on the invoice before you memorize a rate.

A contractor's bid should also know the Houston Permitting Center impact fee change dated the first of July in 2026. A June bid and an August permit need two cost lines, or the job's profit will look wrong at the close.

The property list and the franchise report

Business property in Harris County is listed with the Harris Central Appraisal District, and April is the usual month. A letter can move that Harris County list into May. Houston also reaches into Fort Bend and Montgomery, and those counties have their own appraisal offices. The address picks the office.

The franchise report for Texas goes out in May, built from the year you are filing. It is a state report. The city does not add a second one. Use the rate for the year you are filing, and build it from months you have already closed.

None of these filings is the reserved signature work. A later letter that lists an audit, then a review, then a compilation, gets that part called out. A firm that can sign it takes the signature. The dates on this page can still be prepared here.

Why the dates are virtual on purpose

This site does not list an office. The statute, the Comptroller, and the appraisal district never ask which tower printed the proposal. The list can start from a call.

The Comptroller school workbook puts Houston ISD on 64.33 percent of the census blocks inside the city. Open that workbook and the district levy for 2025 reads 0.8783 on each 100 dollars of taxable value. Split that levy and the maintenance piece is 0.7116 while the sinking piece is 0.1667. That is a public rate for the district, not a bill for one address.

State sales tax is 6.25 percent. The city adds 1 percent under local code 2101017. Houston METRO adds 1 percent under local code 3101990. Together that is 8.25 percent, and the sales return is due on the 20th.

For report years 2026 and 2027 the franchise report uses a threshold of 2,650,000 dollars below which no tax is due. Retail or wholesale is 0.375 percent. Other businesses are 0.75 percent. The report is due on 15 May. Use the rate for the year you are filing, and build it from months that are already closed.

On a Harris County business the property rendition ordinarily has to be in by April 15. Ask the appraisal district in writing and that filing can land as late as May 15. The statute behind both days is Tax Code section 22.23.

Keep the dates in the same file as the books and May is no longer a separate scramble. The property list and the franchise report are already sitting there once the months are closed.