Home / Texas / Esthetics Studio
How to Start an Esthetics Studio in Texas: Esthetician License, Costs & Requirements
A Texas esthetics studio is built on the 750 hour esthetician license, an establishment license for the treatment space, and the standard Texas company and tax framework. This guide covers the TDLR licenses and the scope discipline that keeps a skincare menu lawful, then the Secretary of State, Comptroller and local setup, with published Texas fees throughout.
State sources last reviewed: November 3, 2026Researched from Texas state sources. Our guides are free. We may earn a commission when you use a partner service, at no additional cost to you.
Who licenses esthetics studios in Texas
Esthetics in Texas is licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), Barbering and Cosmetology program, under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1603. That program dates from House Bill 1560 in the 87th Legislature, signed June 15, 2021, which consolidated barbering and cosmetology under TDLR. There is no separate Texas esthetics board. Practitioner licenses, establishment licenses and inspections all run through TDLR at TDLR Barbering and Cosmetology.
One boundary deserves plain words at the start. TDLR licenses cosmetology services, including skincare services inside the esthetician scope. It does not license medical services, and an esthetics studio is not a medical practice. This guide covers the TDLR licensed business only. If a service you are considering is presented as a medical treatment rather than a cosmetology service, it sits outside this guide and outside an esthetician license, and you should take specific advice before offering it. Staying inside your licensed scope is not a limitation on your business. It is the foundation its reputation and its license stand on.
Texas esthetics studio requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Agency | Cost | Key facts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esthetician license, one for each practitioner | TDLR | See the current TDLR fee schedule | 750 hours of training; license term is 2 years |
| Manicurist and Esthetician combined license | TDLR | See the current TDLR fee schedule | 800 hours; covers skincare and nail scopes together |
| Studio establishment license, specialty | TDLR | $78 specialty; $70 mini-establishment | Tied to the owner and the address; inspections apply |
| LLC Certificate of Formation, Form 205 | Secretary of State | $300 | No annual report to the Secretary of State |
| Assumed name certificate, Form 503 | Secretary of State or county clerk | $25 with the state; about $15 to $25 per county | Filing location depends on your structure |
| Employer Identification Number | IRS | Free | Apply with the IRS directly |
| Sales tax permit | Texas Comptroller | Free | Skincare services are generally not taxable; retail product sales are |
| Franchise tax information report | Texas Comptroller | No tax due below $2,650,000 in total revenue (2026) | Report still due May 15 |
The 750 hour esthetician license and your staffing options
The core credential is the Texas Esthetician license: 750 hours of training at a licensed school, TDLR examinations administered through PSI, and a two year license term. Every practitioner providing skincare services in your studio needs their own license in force. Receptionists and owners are a different matter, covered below, but hands on a client means a license in that person name.
| Practitioner license | Training hours | Role in an esthetics studio |
|---|---|---|
| Esthetician | 750 hours | The core skincare license for facials and esthetics services |
| Manicurist and Esthetician | 800 hours | The combined license, useful in a studio that offers nail services alongside skincare |
| Eyelash Extension Specialist | 320 hours | The dedicated lash license, for studios adding lash services through a specialist |
| Cosmetology Operator | 1,000 hours | The broad cosmetology license some owners and multi service practitioners hold |
Build the menu from the licenses outward. List the services you want to sell, then match each one to a license on your team whose TDLR scope covers it, and where the scope wording is not clear to you, ask TDLR before the service goes on sale, not after a complaint arrives. Esthetics menus drift easily, because device makers and product brands market aggressively to studios. A device or a treatment being sold to estheticians is not proof that it sits inside the Texas esthetician scope. Your license, not a sales representative, decides what your studio may offer.
As with every Texas beauty business in this series, the owner does not need a practitioner license to own the studio. An owner who also treats clients needs the esthetician or another covering license personally. Many studios are solo practices where owner and practitioner are the same person holding both licenses, the personal esthetician license and the establishment license for the room, and that simple structure is often the right one to start with.
The establishment license for your treatment space
The premises need a TDLR establishment license. An esthetics studio typically fits the specialty establishment type at $78, and a single treatment room or suite style setup fits the mini-establishment type at $70. Renewal fees match initial fees. Confirm the type for your exact setup on TDLR, because the establishment type should reflect how the space actually operates.
The license is issued to a named owner at a named address, it does not transfer on a sale, and it does not follow you when you move. TDLR inspections are part of holding it. Treatment rooms involve skin contact, shared equipment and product application all day, so your sanitation systems, laundry handling and room turnover routines should be written down, trained and followed between every client. That discipline is what an inspector sees, and it is also what clients feel, even if they never name it.
Forming your LLC with the Texas Secretary of State
Most new esthetics studio owners in Texas operate through a limited liability company, and the filing that creates one is the Certificate of Formation, Form 205, filed with the Texas Secretary of State for a $300 filing fee. Your company name has to include a limited liability company designator and has to be distinguishable from names already on file. The company needs a registered agent with a Texas street address, and a post office box does not qualify. You can reserve a name first for $40, which holds it for 120 days, if you want the name locked while you finish your lease and licensing paperwork.
Two Texas facts surprise owners moving here from other states. Texas has no general state business license, so your TDLR licenses are the state level permission that matters for a esthetics studio. And Texas LLCs file no annual report with the Secretary of State, which removes a yearly chore that catches owners out in other states.
Forming the company yourself on the Secretary of State site is the free route apart from the state fee itself. Formation services will do the filing for you for their own fee on top of the state fee. Either route ends at the same place, so choose based on how much paperwork you want to handle, and keep your filed certificate and your company agreement somewhere you can find them, because landlords, banks and suite operators will ask for them.
Registering your esthetics studio name with a DBA
If your esthetics studio will trade under any name other than the exact legal name of your company or yourself, Texas wants an assumed name certificate, the filing most people call a DBA. Where you file depends on your structure, and getting this wrong is a classic Texas trap. Filing entities such as LLCs and corporations file the Assumed Name Certificate, Form 503, for $25, with the Secretary of State. Sole proprietors and general partnerships file instead at the county clerk in each county where the business operates, at roughly $15 to $25 per county.
Practical version: a esthetics studio organized as an LLC with a different shop name files once with the state. A solo practitioner working as a sole proprietor files in their county, and files again in any second county they work in. File the DBA before you print signage, open a business bank account or sign merchant accounts under the shop name, because banks will ask to see it.
Getting your federal Employer Identification Number
Your EIN is the federal tax number for your esthetics studio, issued by the IRS. It is free, always, when you apply with the IRS directly. Any site charging you to obtain one is selling you a form you can complete yourself.
Texas sales tax, and the services and retail split that matters in beauty
A Texas sales tax permit from the Comptroller is free, and a esthetics studio that sells any retail product needs one before the first sale. The combined rate is the 6.25 percent state rate plus up to 2 percent local tax, for a maximum of 8.25 percent. The rule that shapes daily life in a Texas beauty business is the split: beauty services themselves are generally not taxable in Texas, but retail product sales are. The facial or skincare appointment your client books is a service. The take-home product she buys at the desk is a retail sale.
Build that split into your booking and point of sale setup from day one. Itemize services and products separately on every ticket so tax is collected only on the products, keep your product inventory records clean, and file at the frequency the Comptroller assigns you.
The Texas franchise tax and the report small businesses still file
Texas has no personal income tax, and its business level tax is the franchise tax, run by the Comptroller. For 2026 the no tax due threshold is $2,650,000 in total revenue, and the same threshold applies for 2027, so the large majority of independent esthetics studios owe no franchise tax. Above the threshold, the rate is 0.375 percent for retail and wholesale businesses and 0.75 percent for other businesses, with an EZ Computation option at 0.331 percent for qualifying entities with revenue up to $20 million.
The trap is the filing, not the tax. The old No Tax Due Report was discontinued for reports due on or after January 1, 2024. A business under the threshold still has to file, using a Public Information Report on Form 05-102 or an Ownership Information Report on Form 05-167, and the due date is May 15.
Hiring, booth rent, and the Texas employment rules
If you hire employees, register with the Texas Workforce Commission for unemployment tax. Texas charges that tax on a $9,000 wage base, and the new employer rate is 2.7 percent. Report every new hire within 20 days. The Texas minimum wage is $7.25, and Texas cities are preempted from setting a higher local minimum, so the state figure is the one that governs your payroll planning wherever in Texas you open.
Workers compensation is the Texas decision that differs from every other state. Texas is the one state where private employers may choose not to carry workers compensation coverage. Choosing not to subscribe is a real legal decision, not a default. Non-subscribers must file Form DWC-005 with the Division of Workers Compensation, post the required notices, and they give up common law defenses if an injured worker sues. For a esthetics studio with employees on their feet all day around water, chemicals and sharp tools, get advice on this choice rather than drifting into it.
The other classification decision is booth rent against employment. A genuine booth renter runs their own business inside your space: their own clients, their own prices, their own schedule, their own tax filings. An employee works under your direction, on your schedule, at your prices. Texas and federal tests look at how the relationship actually runs, not at what the agreement calls it. If you direct the work like an employer, paper that says contractor will not protect you.
City zoning, occupancy and the local layer
State licenses do not give you the right to operate in a particular building. Your city controls zoning and occupancy, so confirm that the address allows your type of business before you sign the lease, and expect a certificate of occupancy process, signage rules, and building and fire inspections that sit entirely outside TDLR. Your county handles the sole proprietor DBA filing described above. Confirm the local layer before you sign the lease, not after.
Renewal dates and filings to put on your calendar
| Item | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TDLR practitioner licenses | Every 2 years | Each practitioner renews their own license. Track expiry dates for everyone working in the business, not just yourself. |
| TDLR establishment license | Renewal fee matches the initial fee | Full-Service and Specialty establishments are $78, Mini-Establishment is $70. The license is tied to the owner and the address, so a move means new paperwork. |
| Franchise tax information report, Form 05-102 or 05-167 | May 15, every year | Due even when no franchise tax is owed under the $2,650,000 threshold. |
| Sales tax filings | At the frequency the Comptroller assigns | Covers retail product sales only. Services are generally not taxable in Texas. |
| New hire reports | Within 20 days of each hire | Filed with the state for every employee you bring on. |
Requirements change, and TDLR adjusted continuing education rules for renewals from September 1, 2025, so confirm the current renewal requirements for your license type on TDLR before you rely on any summary, including this one.
What the state charges, in one table
| State charge | Amount | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Establishment license, specialty | $78 | TDLR |
| Establishment license, mini-establishment | $70 | TDLR |
| LLC Certificate of Formation, Form 205 | $300 | Secretary of State |
| Optional name reservation | $40 for 120 days | Secretary of State |
| Assumed name certificate, Form 503 | $25 | Secretary of State |
| Assumed name filing, sole proprietor | About $15 to $25 per county | County clerk |
| Employer Identification Number | Free | IRS |
| Sales tax permit | Free | Texas Comptroller |
Your wider opening budget is training, rent and deposit for the treatment space, a treatment bed and equipment that sits inside your licensed scope, professional product and back bar stock, laundry arrangements, booking software, insurance and marketing. Retail deserves a line of its own in an esthetics budget, because take-home skincare is both a real revenue stream and the part of your sales that carries Texas sales tax. Stock it deliberately, price it properly, and keep it itemized separately from services at the till from your first day of trading.
Esthetics studio opening mistakes Texas owners repeat
Scope drift is the first and the most serious: adding a trending treatment because a brand sells it, without confirming it sits inside the Texas esthetician scope. The second is assuming an establishment license transfers when you buy or take over a studio. It does not. The third is neglecting the retail tax split, so product sales and service sales blur into one untaxed or fully taxed total. The fourth is missing the May 15 franchise tax information report in a year when no tax was owed. A studio built carefully on licensing, scope and paperwork rarely has to learn any of these lessons twice.
Official Texas sources used for this guide
- Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Barbering and Cosmetology program, practitioner and establishment licensing, Occupations Code Chapter 1603.
- Texas Secretary of State, Form 205 Certificate of Formation instructions, LLC filing fee and registered agent rules.
- Texas Comptroller, franchise tax, including the no tax due threshold and the information reports that replaced the No Tax Due Report.
- Texas Comptroller, taxpayer resources, sales tax permits and rates.
- Texas Workforce Commission, employer registration, unemployment tax and new hire reporting.
State sources last reviewed: November 3, 2026. Fees, forms and rules change. Confirm the current version with the agency before you file.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours does a Texas esthetician license take?
The Texas Esthetician license takes 750 hours of training at a licensed school, followed by TDLR examinations administered through PSI. The license runs on a two year term.
What is the combined manicurist and esthetician license?
It is a single TDLR license at 800 hours of training that covers both the nail and skincare scopes. Studios that offer nail services alongside facials often staff it with practitioners holding this combined license, an esthetician for skincare and a manicurist for nails, or a mix of both.
How much does it cost to license an esthetics studio premises in Texas?
TDLR charges $78 for a specialty establishment license and $70 for a mini-establishment license, which fits a single treatment room setup. Renewal fees match the initial fees.
Can an esthetician in Texas offer medical treatments?
No. An esthetician license covers cosmetology skincare services inside the TDLR scope. Medical treatments are not cosmetology services and sit outside an esthetician license. Check any service against the TDLR scope before offering it, and take specific advice on anything presented as a medical treatment.
Are facials taxed in Texas?
Generally, no. Skincare services are generally not taxable in Texas. Retail skincare products you sell for home use are taxable at 6.25 percent state plus up to 2 percent local, a maximum of 8.25 percent. Itemize services and products separately on every sale.
Do I need an esthetician license to own an esthetics studio in Texas?
No. Ownership does not require a practitioner license. The studio needs a TDLR establishment license, and every practitioner treating clients needs their own license covering the services they provide.