What to Expect During a TABC Administrative Hearing
For a business owner who has never been through one, a TABC administrative hearing can sound intimidating. In practice, it is a structured proceeding with a…
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99 entriesWhat Evidence Carries the Most Weight in a Dram Shop Case
A dram shop case rarely turns on what people say happened; it turns on what can be proven. Because the legal standard requires showing that a…
How Distance From Schools and Churches Affects Alcohol Permits
A location can be perfect in every way and still be unable to sell alcohol because of what sits nearby. Texas allows local governments to restrict…
Texas Winery and Wine Sales Permits: An Overview of the Options
Wine occupies a distinctive place in Texas alcohol law, with its own family of permits that range from making wine to selling it in shops to…
Tied House Laws: What Cross-Tier Ownership Is Prohibited
The phrase "tied house" sounds archaic, but the laws behind it are among the most strictly enforced rules in Texas alcohol regulation. Tied-house laws are what…
TABC Publication and Signage Requirements for a Pending Application
When a Texas business applies to sell alcohol at a new location, the public often has a right to know before the license issues. Texas builds…
How Local Option Elections Change Where Alcohol Can Be Sold
The wet or dry status of an area in Texas is not fixed forever. It can be changed by the voters who live there, through a…
What Triggers a Comptroller Mixed Beverage Tax Audit
No business wants a tax audit, and mixed beverage establishments face a particular kind of scrutiny because their sales generate two state taxes and lend themselves…
What a “Death Penalty” License Cancellation Means in TABC Enforcement
In the world of Texas alcohol licensing, people sometimes refer to a "death penalty" for a permit. The phrase is dramatic, and it is not an…
Self-Distribution and Direct-Sale Limits for Texas Craft Producers
For Texas craft producers, brewers, winemakers, and distillers, the rules on self-distribution and direct sales can make or break a business model. These rules let smaller…
On-Premise vs. Off-Premise Permits: What Each Lets a Business Do
Nearly every Texas alcohol permit falls on one side of a single dividing line: whether customers drink the alcohol where they buy it or take it…
How TABC Administrative Violations Are Classified and Penalized
When a Texas alcohol business breaks a rule, the consequence is not random. TABC organizes violations into a structured penalty system, with base amounts tied to…
Why the TABC Wet/Dry Map Is a Starting Point, Not a Final Answer
When people want to know whether they can sell alcohol at a location, they often turn to a map or dataset showing wet and dry areas.…
How TABC Seller-Server Training Programs Are Approved and Delivered
Behind every TABC seller-server certification is a training program, and not just any course will do. Texas requires that seller-server training come from schools the agency…
How Subordinate Permits Attach to a Primary TABC License
Not every piece of a Texas alcohol license is a standalone permit. Some of the most important authorizations a business holds are subordinate permits, add-ons that…
Forming a Private Club to Serve Alcohol: What It Involves
For someone who wants to offer alcohol service in a dry area, or to operate a members-based establishment, forming a private club is the path. But…
How Comptroller Audit Assessments and Disputes Are Resolved
An unfavorable audit result is not the final word. When a Texas Comptroller audit concludes that a mixed beverage business owes additional tax, the business has…
Sunday Alcohol Sales Rules for Beer, Wine, and Liquor in Texas
Sunday has always been a special case in Texas alcohol law, a legacy of the state's blue laws that still shapes what can be bought and…
The Permitted Exceptions to Texas Tied House Rules
Texas tied-house rules forbid cross-tier ownership and integration with unusual firmness, yet anyone who has visited a brewpub knows that some businesses do make and sell…
Structuring Ownership to Stay Within Texas Tier Limits
For anyone investing in the Texas alcohol industry, ownership structure is not an afterthought; it is a threshold compliance question that can determine whether a business…
Minor Sting Operations: How TABC Tests for Compliance
One of the ways TABC enforces the prohibition on selling alcohol to minors is to test businesses directly, sending a young decoy to attempt a purchase…
Wet and Dry Areas in Texas: What the Terms Actually Mean
Few features of Texas alcohol law confuse newcomers more than the words "wet" and "dry." People assume a place is simply one or the other, alcohol…
How Long It Takes to Get a TABC License and What Affects the Timeline
One of the first questions any business asks before selling alcohol in Texas is simple: how long until the license is in hand? The honest answer…
Membership and Operating Rules for Texas Private Clubs
A Texas private club is not just a bar that calls itself a club; it must genuinely operate as a members' association, and the law sets…
Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts Tax vs. Mixed Beverage Sales Tax
A single cocktail sold in a Texas restaurant can be subject to two different state taxes at once, and confusing them is one of the most…