Sales Tax Bond - Statewide in Texas
Table of Contents
Brief Summary
The Texas Comptroller sets your bond amount from your own tax liability, not from a fixed schedule, so two businesses in the same industry can be quoted very different numbers. We write these at $20 per thousand. A $25,025 bond costs $500.50 for the year. You get the exact number before you commit to anything.
A Texas sales tax bond is form 01-752, filed when the Comptroller demands security. It is a Continuous Bond of Seller, required under Texas Tax Code Section 151.253, and it guarantees that the sales tax you collect actually reaches the state. The Comptroller names the amount in the letter, and that amount comes from your own filing history rather than from a published table. Most sellers we bond are asked for somewhere between $5,000 and $30,000. The bond runs continuously until it is cancelled with 30 days written notice, and it must be filed before your permit is issued or reinstated.
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How to Apply for a Sales Tax Bond:
- Have your Comptroller demand letter in front of you. It names the required bond amount.
- Give us the exact legal name of the permit holder, the Texas taxpayer number, and the mailing address on the permit.
- Complete the application. Sole proprietors and partners provide a social security number, entities provide an EIN.
- We quote at $20 per thousand for qualifying applicants and confirm the exact premium before you pay anything.
- Pay the premium. We execute form 01-752 with the carrier's signature, corporate seal and power of attorney.
- Sign the principal signature line in ink. The obligee is the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts; mail the bond to the address printed on form 01-752 and on your demand letter, and check both before you send it, because the Comptroller routes bond filings separately from returns and payments.
- Mail the ORIGINAL, not a scan or a copy. The envelope needs the bond bearing the surety's original signature and raised corporate seal, and the power of attorney for the attorney-in-fact who signed for the carrier. A filing missing the power of attorney is the second most common rejection after the wrong form.
- Keep a copy. The Comptroller issues or reinstates the permit after they approve the bond, not when you mail it.
Detailed Information About the Texas Sales Tax Bond:
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts can require security from any sales tax permittee under Texas Tax Code Section 151.253. In practice the demand arrives after a delinquency, after a permit application from a business with no Texas filing history, or after a change in ownership where the Comptroller wants protection while the new owner builds a record. If you have a letter in hand, it states the dollar amount.
How the amount is set
Section 151.253(b) says the Comptroller fixes the amount in each case, taking into account tax that has become or is expected to become due, including local sales and use taxes. The same subsection caps it: the maximum that may be required is the greater of $100,000 or four times your average monthly tax liability. That cap is not the starting point. Real amounts on bonds we have placed have run $6,000, $8,750 and $25,025, and the odd precision of that last figure is typical, because it is calculated from filings rather than rounded to a marketing number. If you see a page claiming the Texas sales tax bond starts at $100,000, that page is quoting the statutory ceiling, not what the Comptroller actually demands from most sellers.
What it costs
We write these at $20 per thousand of bond amount, which is 2 percent, subject to a minimum premium. Credit determines whether the standard rate applies. Rough credit moves you to a different market at a higher rate, but 2 percent is where a qualifying applicant lands. Bonds we have actually placed:
- A $6,000 bond cost $120 for the year
- An $8,750 bond cost $175 for the year
- A $25,025 bond cost $500.50 for the year
Those are real numbers off real bonds, not a range designed to make you call.
Which form you need
Form 01-752, Continuous Bond of Seller (Sales Tax). It is not interchangeable with the mixed beverage forms. If you sell alcohol you may instead need form 67-105 for mixed beverage sales tax or form 67-102 for mixed beverage gross receipts tax. Those are separate bonds with separate amounts, and filing the wrong form is the most common reason a filing gets rejected and the clock restarts.
Continuous means continuous
Section 151.253(c) is specific: the bond is a continuing instrument and constitutes a new and separate obligation for the penal sum named for each calendar year or portion of a calendar year it is in effect. It does not lapse on its own at twelve months. It stays in force until it is properly cancelled, and the carrier gives the Comptroller 30 days written notice to do that. Premium is due annually while it remains in force.
How it gets filed
The obligee is the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. This is a paper filing: the Comptroller wants the original executed bond, not a scan, not an upload. Use the mailing address printed on form 01-752 itself and repeated on your demand letter, and confirm the two agree before you send anything, because bond filings do not go to the same place as returns and payments.
What has to be in the envelope:
- The bond on form 01-752, signed by you as principal in ink
- The surety's original signature and raised corporate seal, not a photocopied one
- The power of attorney for the attorney-in-fact who signed on the carrier's behalf
Missing the power of attorney is the second most common reason a Texas bond filing bounces, after filing the wrong form entirely. Keep a full copy of everything you mail. Your permit is issued or reinstated when the Comptroller approves the bond, not on the day it leaves your office, so the mailing date is not the date that counts.
How long it takes
Approval on our side is usually same day or next business day once the application is in, and the executed bond is in the mail one to two business days after that. The Comptroller's own processing is the part nobody controls and runs from a few days to a few weeks depending on their queue. File as soon as you have the demand letter rather than working back from the deadline printed on it.
If you cannot qualify at standard rates
A decline is usually about open tax liens, an active delinquency that has not been addressed, prior surety losses, or credit in the low 500s. The bond is still available in most of those cases at a higher rate, because carriers will write this class when they are paid for the risk. A cash deposit with the Comptroller is the statutory alternative under 151.253(a), which also permits certificates of deposit, U.S. Treasury bonds and assignments of approved securities. A cash deposit ties up the entire amount rather than 2 percent of it, so for most sellers the bond is cheaper even at an elevated rate.
Eligibility and Requirements for a Texas Sales Tax Bond:
- An active or pending Texas sales and use tax permit, or an application in process.
- A demand for security from the Texas Comptroller stating the required bond amount.
- The exact legal name of the permit holder, matching the permit and the Comptroller's records.
- Texas taxpayer number, plus an EIN for entities or a social security number for sole proprietors and partnerships.
- A personal credit review for the owner or owners. Standard rates generally require mid-600s or better.
- Open tax liens, unresolved delinquencies and prior surety losses do not automatically disqualify you, but they move the file to a market that prices for them.
- The bond must be written by a surety licensed in Texas and listed on U.S. Treasury Department Circular 570.
Texas Sales Tax Bond FAQs:
Whatever the Comptroller's letter says. They fix the amount case by case from your own filing history under Texas Tax Code Section 151.253(b), taking into account tax already due and tax expected to become due, including local sales and use tax. There is no published table you can look yourself up in. Bonds we have placed have been $6,000, $8,750 and $25,025. The statute caps the demand at the greater of $100,000 or four times your average monthly tax liability, but that ceiling is not what most sellers are asked for.
We write these at $20 per thousand, which is 2 percent of the bond amount per year, subject to a minimum premium. Real placements: a $6,000 bond for $120, an $8,750 bond for $175, and a $25,025 bond for $500.50. Credit determines whether you get the standard rate. If your credit is rough the bond is usually still available, just at a higher percentage.
Form 01-752, Continuous Bond of Seller (Sales Tax). The obligee is the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Mail the original to the address printed on the form and on your demand letter, and check that the two match before you send it, because bond filings are not routed to the same place as returns and payments. The envelope needs the surety's original signature and raised corporate seal plus the power of attorney for whoever signed for the carrier; a missing power of attorney gets the filing sent back. If you sell alcohol, read your letter carefully, because mixed beverage sales tax uses form 67-105 and mixed beverage gross receipts tax uses form 67-102. Those are different bonds, and filing the wrong one restarts the process.
Security is discretionary. It is typically triggered by a delinquency in taxes, penalties or interest, by a permit application from a business with no Texas filing history, or by a change of ownership. A business that has filed and paid on time for years generally never sees a demand. Receiving one is not an accusation of fraud. It is the Comptroller protecting collection while you establish or re-establish a record.
No, and this catches people out. Section 151.253(c) makes it a continuing instrument that creates a new and separate obligation for the penal sum for each calendar year or part of a year it stays in effect. It does not lapse on its own. It remains in force until the surety cancels it with 30 days written notice to the Comptroller, and premium is due annually while it is in force. If you close the business or the Comptroller releases the security requirement, tell us so cancellation can be started.
Approval is usually same day or the next business day once the application is in, and the executed bond goes in the mail one to two business days after that. What nobody can promise is the Comptroller's own processing time, which varies with their queue. Start as soon as the demand letter arrives rather than working back from the deadline on it.
Probably not. Open liens, an active delinquency and credit in the 500s move you out of the standard market, not out of the market. Carriers will write this class when the rate reflects the risk. Your other option under 151.253(a) is a cash deposit with the Comptroller, or a certificate of deposit, U.S. Treasury bonds, or an assignment of approved securities. A cash deposit ties up the full bond amount instead of a small percentage of it, so run the numbers before assuming it is cheaper.
The bond can be cancelled with 30 days written notice to the Comptroller, but do not cancel unilaterally. The Comptroller has to release the security requirement first, and cancelling before that can put your permit at risk. Ask them in writing to release the requirement once your account has been clean long enough, then have the bond cancelled.
