A City Built on Energy, Shipping and Medicine
Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest in the country, with about 2.4 million residents in the Census Bureau's 2025 estimate. It spreads across Harris County and into Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, and its metro area is home to many of the country's oil and gas producers, pipeline companies, oilfield service firms and engineering contractors. Refineries and chemical plants line the Houston Ship Channel, Port Houston leads the nation in foreign waterborne tonnage, and the Texas Medical Center is the largest medical complex in the world. BOMCAS works with Houston businesses and households remotely.
Statewide rules for franchise tax, sales tax and payroll are in our Texas overview; this page looks at how they play out in Houston.
Taxes That Shape Houston Work
There is no state or city income tax. Instead, Houston businesses deal with the Texas franchise tax, sales tax of 8.25 percent inside the city, a 17 percent combined tax on hotel stays and property tax from the county, school district, city and, in many neighbourhoods, a municipal utility district. Harris County alone has hundreds of MUDs and similar water districts, which is why two houses of the same value a few miles apart can have very different tax bills. Houston is also known for having no zoning code, so homes, shops and light industry often sit close together, and a single block can include rentals, small offices and restaurants.
Who We Work With
Our Houston clients include oilfield service and equipment companies, plant maintenance and turnaround contractors, working interest and royalty owners, freight forwarders and trucking firms near the port, medical and dental practices, restaurants and bars, real estate investors and families whose income comes from salaries, stock awards and rentals. Many have international ties, especially to Canada, through energy careers and companies.
Storms and Records
Hurricanes Harvey in 2017 and Beryl in 2024 closed businesses, flooded homes and cut power for days. Disaster declarations usually bring IRS deadline extensions for affected counties, and uninsured losses can be claimed on the federal return. We keep client records in the cloud, so the books, receipts and returns are still available when the office is not.
Property Tax Calendar
- January 1: property is valued as of this date.
- April 15: business personal property renditions are due to Harris Central Appraisal District, extendable to May 15.
- Spring: notices of appraised value are mailed.
- May 15, or 30 days after the notice: the usual protest deadline.
- January 31: property tax bills are due.
Neighbourhoods and Suburbs
Houston business is spread out. The Energy Corridor along the Katy Freeway holds many energy company offices, Greenspoint and the North Houston District serve the airport and oilfield service trade, and the ship channel cities of Pasadena, Deer Park and La Porte hold the plants and their contractors. Inside the Loop, the Heights, Montrose and Midtown are full of restaurants, salons, studios and small professional firms, while Bellaire Boulevard in Alief and Chinatown is lined with family businesses serving Vietnamese, Chinese and other communities. Each area brings its own mix of sales tax codes, property values and payroll patterns, and we set up each client's filings for the address they actually operate from.
Common First Projects
New Houston clients usually come to us with one of a handful of problems. An energy service company has grown quickly and needs its books reorganised before its bank renews a credit line. A restaurant group has opened a second location and is not sure its sales and mixed beverage returns match its point-of-sale reports. A couple has moved from California for work and wants to understand what changes on their federal return now that there is no state return to file. A family has inherited royalty interests and rental property and needs the records sorted. Each of these starts with the same step: we gather the last two years of returns and statements, identify what is missing and agree a timetable.
Working With BOMCAS From Houston
Everything is handled online: secure uploads, video calls and cloud accounting. We do not provide legal advice or represent clients in appraisal hearings, but we prepare the figures and schedules that owners and their advisers use.
How BOMCAS Helps in Houston
Houston clients usually start with bookkeeping organised by job, well or location, sales, mixed beverage and hotel tax filings and payroll for crews and shifts. Each year we prepare business returns and franchise tax reports and household returns, then use them for planning around the energy cycle, property tax and exits. Businesses that have fallen behind can begin with back taxes and late filing, and Canadians and other international families will find cross-border tax help.
Our Texas state pages on business tax preparation, personal tax preparation, sales and use tax, bookkeeping, payroll, tax planning, back taxes and late filing and cross-border tax set out the statewide rules behind this work.
Houston Questions
Do you have an office in Houston?
No. BOMCAS works with Houston clients remotely using secure uploads, video calls and cloud accounting.
What is the sales tax rate in Houston?
8.25 percent inside city limits. Addresses outside the city can have different local taxes.
Why is my property tax higher than my neighbour's in another subdivision?
Often because of municipal utility district or other special district taxes, which vary from one development to the next.
Do you work with oil and gas companies?
Yes, including service companies, contractors and owners of working and royalty interests.
Talk to BOMCAS About Your Houston Taxes
In south-central Texas, our San Antonio pages cover Joint Base San Antonio households and contractors, River Walk hospitality, the Toyota supplier park, Eagle Ford royalties and family and business ties to Mexico.
In North Texas, our Dallas pages look at headquarters staff and executives, private companies and funds, a city spread over five counties, Love Field and DART-area sales tax and the restaurants of Deep Ellum and Bishop Arts.
West of Dallas, our Fort Worth pages cover aerospace and rail employers, the AllianceTexas logistics hub and its freeport inventory, Barnett Shale royalties on city lots, ranching families and the Stockyards hospitality trade.
In the capital, our Austin pages focus on tech employees with stock compensation, startups and founders, state employees, University of Texas faculty and students, licensed short-term rentals and the city's music and film freelancers.
Tell BOMCAS about your Houston business or household and we will reply with next steps and what we need for a quote. Use the contact page or the form below, call 780-667-5250 or email info@bomcas.ca. Every Houston service is on the Texas overview. This page is general information, not advice for your situation.