POS system for Texas businesses

Texas sales tax at a glance

The Texas state sales and use tax rate is 6.25% as of 2026, administered by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Cities, counties, transit authorities and special purpose districts can add local taxes, up to a combined 2%. That makes 8.25% the most you will usually charge, and it is the total in Houston, Dallas, Austin and many other cities.

For most in-state sellers, local tax is based on where your business is located. Grocery food is generally exempt, while prepared food, soft drinks and candy are taxable. Bars and restaurants with a mixed beverage permit also deal with separate mixed beverage taxes. Confirm your rates with the Comptroller's lookup tool before you open.

Building your tax group in SeroPOS

In the back office go to Settings, then Tax Rates, and add the state rate of 6.25%. Then add each local rate that applies at your address, such as a 1% city rate, a transit authority rate or a special district rate, ticking "for tax group only" so they can't be picked alone. In the SeroPOS app the same screens are under Admin, then Taxes.

Open Tax Groups and combine the rates into one group named after the place and the total, for example "Houston 8.25%". Make it the default tax so new products pick it up, and add a 0% rate for exempt items. If your stores are in different cities, build a group for each and check that the local parts don't exceed 2% in total.

Grocery, convenience and restaurants

A Texas convenience store sells untaxed grocery items and taxed snacks, drinks and household goods in the same basket. A taqueria sells prepared food, which is taxable, and may sell packaged items too. In SeroPOS the tax is part of each product, so the cashier scans or taps and each line gets the right tax without any choice at the till.

Before you open, filter the back office product list by tax to check what sits on 0% and what sits on the group. Bulk edit changes the tax on a selection of products at once. After the first day, the Product Taxes section of the daily sales summary shows which items tax came from, so a product on the wrong rate stands out.

Card terminals that talk to the till

In Texas, as almost everywhere, most customers pay by card or tap, so the terminal matters as much as the till. SeroPOS works with Global Payments, through Global Pay Cloud or on the T650P handheld with Terminal Plus, and with Gravity Payments terminals set up in Gravity Pay Settings.

Each till can have its own terminal, set under Card Terminal for This Till, so the front counter and the bar charge on separate devices. Tips typed on the terminal print on the receipt, Close Batch prints a day-end summary, and Check on Terminal reads the batch when you're not sure whether a card went through.

Already have a merchant account? Keep it if your processor is supported. If you want to compare costs, send us a recent statement and we'll quote a rate. Card processing is arranged separately from your SeroPOS plan. Tell us your monthly card volume and the terminals you use today, and we can say which setup fits your counter before you commit.

Tax reports and QuickBooks Desktop

The Tax Report in the back office shows tax collected on sales, tax paid on purchases and tax on expenses, with an overall figure and the invoices behind each number, filtered by location and date range. Run it for your filing period, and use the Product Taxes section of the daily sales summary to see which products the tax came from.

On the Pro plan SeroPOS sends sales, payments, customers and items to QuickBooks Desktop, US edition 2021 or later (Pro, Premier or Enterprise on Windows), through the Web Connector. It can build your sales tax items, groups and tax agency in QuickBooks for you, matched by rate rather than by name. The QuickBooks Online connection is set up for Canadian companies today.