How should multiple related alcohol businesses be structured so ownership interests never cross tiers?
Related alcohol businesses stay inside the Tied House rules when every person and company in the group sits on only one level of the industry, as…
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80 articlesHow Does the Comptroller Use Pour-Cost and Depletion Analysis to Estimate Unreported Sales?
A depletion analysis starts from what a permittee bought, not what it reported. The Comptroller converts the liquor, beer, and wine purchased into drinks, prices those…
How TABC Distance Measurements Are Calculated, and Why Applicants Get Them Wrong
The Alcoholic Beverage Code uses two different measuring methods. For a church or a public hospital, the distance runs from front door to front door along…
What Temporary Permits Cover One-Time Events, Festivals, and Fundraisers
For an organization without a TABC license, the temporary permit for a one-time event is the Nonprofit Entity Temporary Event Permit (NT). It lets a qualifying…
What Is a Distiller’s and Rectifier’s Permit, and What On-Site Sales Are Texas Distilleries Allowed?
Three kinds of on-site sales are open to a Texas distillery, and each has its own ceiling: samples of up to half an ounce; drinks for…
How the City, County, and Comptroller Signing Sequence Works, and Why Collecting These Signatures Takes the Longest Part of Licensing
The three signatures on a TABC application come from offices that do not work together: the county clerk and, inside city limits, the city secretary certify…
How a TABC Violation Is Defended at a SOAH Hearing
At a State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) hearing, TABC usually carries the burden of proving the violation by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more…
What is the difference between wet and dry areas in Texas, and how does it limit which permits are possible?
In Texas an area is "dry" for a particular type of alcoholic beverage if selling it there is unlawful, and "wet" for that type if selling…
Where Licensing Services and Consultants Stop, and Where a TABC Attorney Takes Over
The line is set by Texas law, not by marketing. TABC's own system lets a business add a licensing service as an authorized user who enters…
How the TABC Administrative Violation Process Works, and What SOAH’s Role Is
A TABC violation case starts with an administrative notice in the business's AIMS account and ends in one of three ways: a warning, a settlement, or…
What Is a Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer’s Permit, and How Does It Differ From a Mixed Beverage Permit?
The Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Permit (BG) lets a business sell wine and beer of up to 17 percent alcohol for customers to drink on…
Distance Requirements Between Alcohol Businesses and Schools, Churches, and Hospitals
Texas has no statewide buffer around schools, churches, or hospitals. The Alcoholic Beverage Code lets each city, and each county for areas outside city limits, adopt…
What Documentation and Entity Information a City or County Must Have on File Before It Will Issue a Certificate of Local Compliance
A city secretary or county clerk certifies a specific applicant at a specific address for specific license or permit types, so the request has to identify…
What Is the Safe Harbor Defense, and What Documentation Does a Business Need to Invoke It?
Safe harbor protects a business's license or permit when an employee sells or serves alcohol to a minor or an intoxicated person. Under Section 106.14 of…
What Should a Written Alcohol Policy Contain to Protect a Permit Holder?
A written alcohol policy protects a permit only if it covers the decisions that create violations, such as checking identification, recognizing and refusing intoxicated customers, and…
How After-Hours and Breach-of-Peace Violations Threaten a TABC Permit
Selling or serving a drink after legal hours, allowing people to keep drinking after the consumption cutoff, running a premises where fights and disorder happen, and…
What Records Must a Bar or Restaurant Keep to Survive a Mixed Beverage Audit?
The Comptroller's mixed beverage rule, 34 Texas Administrative Code Section 3.1001, prescribes the records: a source record for every sale showing each serving and its price,…
What is the Texas three-tier system, and what does the Tied House law forbid between retailers, distributors, and manufacturers?
Texas splits the alcohol industry into three levels: manufacturers make alcoholic beverages, wholesalers and distributors buy from them and sell to businesses, and retailers sell to…
What the Complete TABC Licensing Timeline Looks Like, From Strategy to Open Doors
TABC estimates about 30 to 35 days to process a license or permit once it has a complete application, and says some take longer. The weeks…
What is a Late Hours Permit (LH) and how does it extend alcohol service toward 2:00 AM?
Serving until 2 a.m. takes an add-on to the main permit: the retailer late hours certificate, which TABC abbreviates LH. With it, a bar, club, or…
Why the Texas Comptroller Can Block an L-Cert Over an Officer’s Delinquent Taxes From an Unrelated Entity, and How That Hold Is Cleared
The Comptroller's signature on TABC's Required Certifications form states that "none of the persons making this application are indebted to the State of Texas." A tax…
What Residency and Citizenship Rules Apply to TABC Applicants
The text of the Alcoholic Beverage Code still says an applicant should be a United States citizen who has been a Texas citizen for the year…
Which Alcohol Permits Apply to Convenience Stores and Gas Stations Selling Beer and Wine?
A convenience store or gas station that sells beer and wine to go needs one of two Texas off-premise retail authorizations. The Wine and Malt Beverage…
How Alcohol Service Is Licensed Inside a Multi-Tenant Food Hall or Shared Venue
TABC's permit types include no food hall permit. Alcohol in a multi-tenant venue is licensed with the ordinary retail permits, and each permit holder must keep…
What Is a Winery Permit, and What Tasting-Room and Direct-Shipping Rights Does It Grant?
A Winery Permit (G) lets a Texas winery make wine and sell it to consumers directly: by the glass at the winery, in sealed bottles to…