Franchise Tax Software Updates

Legislative changes to the Texas franchise tax have prompted the need for revised franchise tax reporting forms to capture additional information and include new edits and calculations. If you use approved tax preparation software to complete your franchise tax reports, please note that there are some important updates.

Effective Jan. 1, 2010, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts will not be able to accept original franchise tax reports generated from tax preparation software approved for 2008 and 2009 reports. However, amended 2008 and 2009 reports generated from previously approved tax preparation software products will still be accepted.

This means that if you are filing an original franchise tax report for 2008, 2009 or 2010, after Dec. 31, 2009, you will need to use tax preparation software approved by the Comptroller's office for the 2010 report year. You would also need to check with the tax preparation software vendor to determine if the vendor's 2010 software provides the option to submit amended returns for reports originally submitted using 2008 and/or 2009 software.

The Comptroller's revised forms for the 2010 reporting year will be available on the agency's Web site on Dec. 7, 2009. These forms will support original and amended reports for report years 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Keep in mind that the Comptroller’s office does not endorse any software company, its products or services. Software vendors are listed in alphabetical order on a provided list and are not affiliated with the State of Texas in any way. Talk to a Texas sales and use tax attorney about your State sales and use tax reporting requirements.