Alex Sears CPA  -  Katy, TX
(832) 677-0085 Book free consult
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For Texas business owners over (or near) the $2.47M revenue threshold

The EZ form is often the expensive checkbox.

A decision tree plus a one-page worksheet: no-tax-due threshold, EZ vs long form, COGS vs compensation, and the deadlines that trigger penalties.

Built for contractors, trades, and service businesses in Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties.

What's inside

  • The 2024+ rules: $2.47M no-tax-due threshold and the end of the No Tax Due Report
  • The four margin computations Texas lets you choose between, in plain English
  • A worksheet that prices the EZ computation against the long form on your numbers
  • Compensation vs COGS notes for contractors (subcontractor costs change the answer)
  • The April 15 / May 15 / November 15 routine, and the PIR mistake that triggers forfeiture letters

Send me the decision tree.

No newsletter spam. You get the decision tree, plus one practical follow-up before the May 15 deadline window.

Texas taxes the smallest of four numbers. Most owners never compute all four.

Texas franchise tax gives you a choice of margin bases: 70% of revenue, revenue minus COGS, revenue minus compensation, or revenue minus $1M, plus an EZ computation that skips deductions entirely at a lower rate. The cheapest choice depends on your payroll, your subcontractor mix, and your revenue.

Since the 2024 report year the no-tax-due threshold is $2.47M and the No Tax Due Report is gone, but the Public Information Report still has to be filed. Filing like it is still the $1.23M world, or defaulting to the EZ form because it is short, are the two habits that quietly cost real money.

This decision tree walks the choice in order, then gives you a worksheet to run both computations side by side in April, when there is still time to act before the May 15 deadline.

Nobody at the Comptroller will call to tell you the EZ form made you overpay. The worksheet takes twenty minutes.

General information for Texas franchise tax. Thresholds and caps are for reports originally due 2024-2025 and change over time; verify at comptroller.texas.gov. Not tax advice for your specific facts. Alex Sears, CPA is licensed in Texas.