Temporary License Process

Businesses should begin preparing now to ensure they can access the licensing services they may need over the summer.

To launch new technology and support changes made by the 86th Texas Legislature, TABC must temporarily change the processes to apply for:

• Original licenses
• Renewals
• Subordinate authorities
• Supplemental changes
• Temporary events

This page outlines the timelines and processes for your business from now through the implementation of permanent changes on Sept. 1, 2021.

• Now to July 31: We’ll accept completed applications using the current submission process (or COVID-19 email process), which will be based on the license types and fees in effect at the time. Under this process, your application is only considered complete if you do both of the following:
  1. Answer all questions, get all necessary certifications, make all required publications, etc. If any items are missing in the application, we will deem it incomplete and send it back to you.
  2. Submit your payment for application fees and surcharges by July 31, after receiving a “remit payment” notice by email from TABC. (Submit your completed applications with enough time for TABC to send you a “remit payment” notice, and for you to respond by mailing the requested payment to TABC by July 31.)
• Aug. 1 to 31: TABC will not accept any applications for original primary licenses, subordinate authorities like Food and Beverage Certificates, or supplemental changes (e.g., location, ownership, business entity officers, etc.). But we’ll still accept and process requests for approval to conduct temporary and catering events during August.
• Sept. 1 and after: Apply using TABC’s new AIMS program and the new license types and fees set by TABC rules (not yet adopted).

• Licenses with expiration date of Aug. 31 or sooner: Renew using TABC’s current online process and the license types and fees in effect before Sept. 1. These businesses should renew before Sept. 1.
  • Example: If you hold a Mixed Beverage Permit (MB) that expires Aug. 31 — even if you wait until Sept. 30 to file a late renewal — you’ll renew using TABC’s current online process as well as the pre-Sept. 1 license types and fees.
• Licenses with expiration date of Sept. 1 or after: Renew using TABC’s new AIMS program and the new license types and fees set by TABC rules (not yet adopted). You may not file renewals for these licenses before Sept. 1.
  • Licenses expiring in September can’t renew until September.
    • TABC will use prosecutorial discretion to allow these businesses to continue operating during September as long as they onboard into AIMS and complete the renewal process in September.
    • These businesses will receive a designation in TABC’s Public Inquiry System with a phrase like “in progress” to denote their status. We will also include information about the designation in educational outreach to industry members, including the distribution tier.
  • Licenses expiring in October and after may be renewed no earlier than 30 days before they expire.
  • Late fees: TABC will not charge a late fee for renewal applications filed within the 30-day renewal grace period for licenses that expire in September or October.
• Effect of renewals under COVID-19 protocols: If you have filed or plan to file a late renewal based on Gov. Greg Abbott’s waiver, or have filed or plan to file a one-year renewal for a Mixed Beverage Permit, these actions have no impact on the process that you will use to renew your license. How you renew is based only on your license’s expiration date.