How to Start a Barbershop in Texas: Barber License, Costs & Requirements
A Texas barbershop runs on two TDLR licenses working together: a Class A Barber license for every barber behind a chair, and an establishment license for the shop itself. Around those sit your company filing, your tax accounts and your city occupancy approval. This guide lays out each piece with the hours, fees and forms published by Texas agencies.
State sources last reviewed: November 3, 2026Researched from Texas state sources. Our guides are free. We may earn a commission when you use a partner service, at no additional cost to you.
Who licenses barbershops in Texas
Barbering in Texas is licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), through its Barbering and Cosmetology program. That has not always been true, and older guides still get it wrong. Barbering and cosmetology sat in separate parts of state law until House Bill 1560 in the 87th Legislature, signed June 15, 2021, consolidated them into one program under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1603. A guide that sends you to a separate Texas barber board, or cites the old chapter numbers, is working from pre-2021 law.
The consolidation changed the paperwork, not the trade. Texas still issues a distinct barber license, with its own training course and examinations, and it still licenses the shop as an establishment. What changed is that one agency, one code chapter and one renewal system now cover your barbers, your cosmetologists if you employ any, and your premises. Start at TDLR Barbering and Cosmetology.
Texas barbershop requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Agency | Cost | Key facts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class A Barber license, one for each barber | TDLR | See the current TDLR fee schedule | 1,000 hours of training; license term is 2 years |
| Shop establishment license | TDLR | $78 full-service or specialty; $70 mini-establishment | Tied to the owner and the address; inspections apply |
| LLC Certificate of Formation, Form 205 | Secretary of State | $300 | No annual report to the Secretary of State |
| Assumed name certificate, Form 503 | Secretary of State or county clerk | $25 with the state; about $15 to $25 per county | Where you file depends on your business structure |
| Employer Identification Number | IRS | Free | Apply with the IRS directly |
| Sales tax permit | Texas Comptroller | Free | Services are generally not taxable; retail product sales are |
| Franchise tax information report | Texas Comptroller | No tax due below $2,650,000 in total revenue (2026) | Report still due May 15 even when no tax is owed |
The Class A Barber license for the people behind the chairs
The barber license that staffs a Texas shop is the Class A Barber license. It takes 1,000 hours of training at a licensed school, followed by the written and practical examinations TDLR administers through PSI. Practitioner licenses run on two year terms. Every barber working in your shop needs their own license in force, including you if you cut hair yourself, and including a booth renter working independently inside your premises. An unlicensed person performing barbering services puts both that person and your establishment license at risk.
| Practitioner license | Training hours | Role in a barbershop |
|---|---|---|
| Class A Barber | 1,000 hours | The core license for barbers cutting hair and providing barbering services |
| Cosmetology Operator | 1,000 hours | The cosmetology license. Relevant if your shop employs cosmetologists for services inside their licensed scope |
| Hair Weaving Specialist | 300 hours | A specialty license for weaving services, if your service menu includes them |
Do not assume licenses overlap. A cosmetology operator and a Class A barber train for the same number of hours, but they are different licenses with different scopes, and TDLR, not the shop owner, decides what each license covers. Before you advertise a service, match it to the license of the person who will actually perform it, and check the scope wording on TDLR if there is any doubt. Hiring plans that depend on a license covering work it does not cover fall apart the first time an inspector or a client complaint tests them.
Owner licensing follows the rule that surprises many first time shop owners: the owner of the shop does not need a practitioner license at all. You can own a Texas barbershop without holding a barber license, as long as the shop holds its establishment license and every person providing services is individually licensed. The moment you pick up the clippers for a paying client, that changes, and you need the practitioner license yourself.
The establishment license for the shop itself
Separately from every personal license, the premises need a TDLR establishment license. TDLR issues establishment licenses for full-service and specialty premises, and a mini-establishment license for small single operator style spaces. The fees are published by TDLR: $78 for a full-service establishment, $78 for a specialty establishment, and $70 for a mini-establishment, with renewal fees matching the initial fees. A typical multi chair barbershop applies as a full-service establishment.
The establishment license is tied to that owner and that address. It is not transferable to a buyer, and it does not follow you to a new location. Buy an existing shop and you still need your own establishment licensing in your own name for that address. Move across the street and the address change means new paperwork. Build those lead times into any purchase or relocation plan, and expect TDLR inspections of the premises as part of holding the license.
Forming your LLC with the Texas Secretary of State
Most new barbershop owners in Texas operate through a limited liability company, and the filing that creates one is the Certificate of Formation, Form 205, filed with the Texas Secretary of State for a $300 filing fee. Your company name has to include a limited liability company designator and has to be distinguishable from names already on file. The company needs a registered agent with a Texas street address, and a post office box does not qualify. You can reserve a name first for $40, which holds it for 120 days, if you want the name locked while you finish your lease and licensing paperwork.
Two Texas facts surprise owners moving here from other states. Texas has no general state business license, so your TDLR licenses are the state level permission that matters for a barbershop. And Texas LLCs file no annual report with the Secretary of State, which removes a yearly chore that catches owners out in other states.
Forming the company yourself on the Secretary of State site is the free route apart from the state fee itself. Formation services will do the filing for you for their own fee on top of the state fee. Either route ends at the same place, so choose based on how much paperwork you want to handle, and keep your filed certificate and your company agreement somewhere you can find them, because landlords, banks and suite operators will ask for them.
Registering your barbershop name with a DBA
If your barbershop will trade under any name other than the exact legal name of your company or yourself, Texas wants an assumed name certificate, the filing most people call a DBA. Where you file depends on your structure, and getting this wrong is a classic Texas trap. Filing entities such as LLCs and corporations file the Assumed Name Certificate, Form 503, for $25, with the Secretary of State. Sole proprietors and general partnerships file instead at the county clerk in each county where the business operates, at roughly $15 to $25 per county.
Practical version: a barbershop organized as an LLC with a different shop name files once with the state. A solo practitioner working as a sole proprietor files in their county, and files again in any second county they work in. File the DBA before you print signage, open a business bank account or sign merchant accounts under the shop name, because banks will ask to see it.
Getting your federal Employer Identification Number
Your EIN is the federal tax number for your barbershop, issued by the IRS. It is free, always, when you apply with the IRS directly. Any site charging you to obtain one is selling you a form you can complete yourself.
Texas sales tax, and the services and retail split that matters in beauty
A Texas sales tax permit from the Comptroller is free, and a barbershop that sells any retail product needs one before the first sale. The combined rate is the 6.25 percent state rate plus up to 2 percent local tax, for a maximum of 8.25 percent. The rule that shapes daily life in a Texas beauty business is the split: beauty services themselves are generally not taxable in Texas, but retail product sales are. The haircut or shave your client books is a service. The take-home product she buys at the desk is a retail sale.
Build that split into your booking and point of sale setup from day one. Itemize services and products separately on every ticket so tax is collected only on the products, keep your product inventory records clean, and file at the frequency the Comptroller assigns you.
The Texas franchise tax and the report small businesses still file
Texas has no personal income tax, and its business level tax is the franchise tax, run by the Comptroller. For 2026 the no tax due threshold is $2,650,000 in total revenue, and the same threshold applies for 2027, so the large majority of independent barbershops owe no franchise tax. Above the threshold, the rate is 0.375 percent for retail and wholesale businesses and 0.75 percent for other businesses, with an EZ Computation option at 0.331 percent for qualifying entities with revenue up to $20 million.
The trap is the filing, not the tax. The old No Tax Due Report was discontinued for reports due on or after January 1, 2024. A business under the threshold still has to file, using a Public Information Report on Form 05-102 or an Ownership Information Report on Form 05-167, and the due date is May 15.
Hiring, booth rent, and the Texas employment rules
If you hire employees, register with the Texas Workforce Commission for unemployment tax. Texas charges that tax on a $9,000 wage base, and the new employer rate is 2.7 percent. Report every new hire within 20 days. The Texas minimum wage is $7.25, and Texas cities are preempted from setting a higher local minimum, so the state figure is the one that governs your payroll planning wherever in Texas you open.
Workers compensation is the Texas decision that differs from every other state. Texas is the one state where private employers may choose not to carry workers compensation coverage. Choosing not to subscribe is a real legal decision, not a default. Non-subscribers must file Form DWC-005 with the Division of Workers Compensation, post the required notices, and they give up common law defenses if an injured worker sues. For a barbershop with employees on their feet all day around water, chemicals and sharp tools, get advice on this choice rather than drifting into it.
The other classification decision is booth rent against employment. A genuine booth renter runs their own business inside your space: their own clients, their own prices, their own schedule, their own tax filings. An employee works under your direction, on your schedule, at your prices. Texas and federal tests look at how the relationship actually runs, not at what the agreement calls it. If you direct the work like an employer, paper that says contractor will not protect you.
City zoning, occupancy and the local layer
State licenses do not give you the right to operate in a particular building. Your city controls zoning and occupancy, so confirm that the address allows your type of business before you sign the lease, and expect a certificate of occupancy process, signage rules, and building and fire inspections that sit entirely outside TDLR. Your county handles the sole proprietor DBA filing described above. Confirm the local layer before you sign the lease, not after.
Renewal dates and filings to put on your calendar
| Item | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TDLR practitioner licenses | Every 2 years | Each practitioner renews their own license. Track expiry dates for everyone working in the business, not just yourself. |
| TDLR establishment license | Renewal fee matches the initial fee | Full-Service and Specialty establishments are $78, Mini-Establishment is $70. The license is tied to the owner and the address, so a move means new paperwork. |
| Franchise tax information report, Form 05-102 or 05-167 | May 15, every year | Due even when no franchise tax is owed under the $2,650,000 threshold. |
| Sales tax filings | At the frequency the Comptroller assigns | Covers retail product sales only. Services are generally not taxable in Texas. |
| New hire reports | Within 20 days of each hire | Filed with the state for every employee you bring on. |
Requirements change, and TDLR adjusted continuing education rules for renewals from September 1, 2025, so confirm the current renewal requirements for your license type on TDLR before you rely on any summary, including this one.
What the state charges, in one table
| State charge | Amount | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Establishment license, full-service or specialty | $78 | TDLR |
| Establishment license, mini-establishment | $70 | TDLR |
| LLC Certificate of Formation, Form 205 | $300 | Secretary of State |
| Optional name reservation | $40 for 120 days | Secretary of State |
| Assumed name certificate, Form 503 | $25 | Secretary of State |
| Assumed name filing, sole proprietor | About $15 to $25 per county | County clerk |
| Employer Identification Number | Free | IRS |
| Sales tax permit | Free | Texas Comptroller |
Those are the state charges, and they are the small part of opening a shop. Your real money goes on the lease and deposit, chairs and stations, plumbing and build out, tools, initial product, insurance and your first months of payroll or chair rent shortfall. Price those from quotes in your own market rather than from a national average on a website, because Texas rents vary enormously between a Houston suburb, a Dallas neighborhood and a small town main street. What this guide can promise is narrower and more useful: the government fees above are the actual published figures, so any budget that shows you very different state fees is working from stale sources.
Barbershop opening mistakes Texas owners repeat
The first is signing a lease before checking that the city allows a barbershop at that address and before confirming the premises can pass inspection. The second is treating a shop purchase as if the seller establishment license transfers with the keys. It does not. The third is staffing the chairs first and checking licenses second: every barber needs their own Class A Barber license in force before they take a paying client in your shop. The fourth is forgetting the May 15 franchise tax information report because no tax was due. No tax due is not the same as no filing due, in Texas.
Official Texas sources used for this guide
- Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Barbering and Cosmetology program, practitioner and establishment licensing, Occupations Code Chapter 1603.
- Texas Secretary of State, Form 205 Certificate of Formation instructions, LLC filing fee and registered agent rules.
- Texas Comptroller, franchise tax, including the no tax due threshold and the information reports that replaced the No Tax Due Report.
- Texas Comptroller, taxpayer resources, sales tax permits and rates.
- Texas Workforce Commission, employer registration, unemployment tax and new hire reporting.
State sources last reviewed: November 3, 2026. Fees, forms and rules change. Confirm the current version with the agency before you file.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a barber license to own a barbershop in Texas?
No. The owner does not have to hold a practitioner license. The shop needs a TDLR establishment license, and every barber providing services in it must hold their own license, such as the Class A Barber license. If you cut hair for paying clients yourself, you need your own practitioner license as well.
How many hours of training does a Texas Class A Barber need?
A Class A Barber license takes 1,000 hours of training at a licensed school, followed by the written and practical examinations administered through PSI. The license runs on a two year term.
Who licenses barbers in Texas now?
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, through its Barbering and Cosmetology program. Barbering and cosmetology were consolidated into that single program under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1603 by House Bill 1560 in 2021, so there is no longer a separate Texas barber board.
How much is a Texas barbershop establishment license?
TDLR charges $78 for a full-service establishment license and $78 for a specialty establishment license, and $70 for a mini-establishment license. Renewal fees match the initial fees. A typical multi chair barbershop applies as a full-service establishment.
Are barbering services taxed in Texas?
Generally, no. Barbering and other beauty services are generally not taxable in Texas. Retail product sales are taxable, at the 6.25 percent state rate plus up to 2 percent local tax, a combined maximum of 8.25 percent. Itemize services and products separately on every ticket.
Does a booth renter in my shop need their own license?
Yes. Every practitioner needs their own TDLR practitioner license in force, whether they are your employee or an independent booth renter. Your establishment license covers the premises, not the people working in it.