Fort Worth, TX Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)

The Code of Ordinances handles business taxation through a single narrow grant rather than a citywide tax schedule. A. 008 and Tex. Const. Art. VIII, § 2 in the statutory reference notes. The older City Charter, Chapter II § 17, sets the rate ceiling directly: any local occupation tax the council levies cannot exceed one-half of the amount the State of Texas charges for that same occupation, and it is collected by the city's assessor and collector of taxes. Because Texas eliminated most general state occupation taxes decades ago, this framework leaves the city almost nothing to tax under a classification scheme; Fort Worth does not sort businesses into tiers or issue a general business-tax certificate.

The one concrete example still on the books is the bingo tax, Code § 20-26, a 1% levy on the taxable gross receipts of bingo games conducted in the city, collected under the state Bingo Enabling Act (Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Art. 179d). Beyond that carve-out, businesses operating in Fort Worth pay no separate city occupation or gross-receipts tax; they remain subject to state franchise tax, sales tax and property tax administered by the Tarrant Appraisal District and the Texas Comptroller. Enforcement of the narrow occupation-tax authority runs through the city's regular Code Compliance and Finance processes rather than a dedicated business-licensing tax office.