economyEconomic Development

The Texas Enterprise Zone Program

This economic development tool allows local communities to partner with the state of Texas to encourage job creation and capital investment in economically distressed areas. Local communities can nominate a new or expanding business as an "enterprise project." Approved projects are eligible to apply for state sales and use tax refunds on qualified expenditures. The level and amount of refund depends on the capital investment and jobs created at the qualified business site.

For more information on the Texas Enterprise Zone Program, visit the Governor's Economic Development Finance department online, or call 512-936-0100.

Enterprise Zone Project Compliance

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is committed to helping Texas businesses. We are aware that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other economic factors, some Enterprise Zone Projects may have changed their business model. These changes may have resulted in reduced business hours, a reduction in employees or a transition to a part-time or full-time telework structure. As a result, some projects may have temporarily or permanently fallen out of compliance with the following requirements of the Enterprise Zone program:

  • Tex. Gov. Code Sec. 2303.003 (7)( C) defines a qualified employee as a person who performs at least 50 percent of the person’s service for the business at the qualified business site;
  • Tex. Gov. Code Sec. 2303.401 (1)(B) defines a new permanent job as a position that will provide or has provided for the duration of the project’s designation period at least 1,820 hours of employment a year to a qualified employee;
  • Tex. Gov. Code Sec. 2302.401 (2)(B) defines a retained job as a position that has provided and will continue to provide employment to a qualified employee of at least 1,820 hours annually.

If you determine your project has jobs that fell out of compliance, please prepare an updated spreadsheet of all certified jobs. The spreadsheet should include the following for each job:

  • Job Number,
  • Position Title,
  • Employee Number,
  • Employee Name,
  • Hire Date,
  • Termination Date (if applicable), and
  • The Reason Why the Job Is Non-Qualifying (if applicable).

Please reference Exhibit I (PDF). Any jobs you report as non-qualifying will be removed from the list of approved jobs.

Any job which has a period of non-qualification, may come back into compliance during a later period. To be recertified the project must submit the job(s) on a new Application for Program Benefits — with a new job number and a new claim period — prior to the project’s job certification deadline.

For those projects who have received a refund from the state, a change in the number of qualifying jobs may result in the project being required to return some of the previously issued Enterprise Zone refund.

For those projects who self-report and remit the money that they no longer qualify for, the comptroller will grant a waiver of penalty and interest. Please submit the updated job list to Audit.Ent.Zone@cpa.texas.gov.

Any payment due to the state for non-qualifying jobs can be mailed to:

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Audit Headquarters
1700 Congress Ave. Ste 300
Austin, TX 78701

Please note that voluntary reporting does not constitute an audit. Our acceptance of the information you report should not be taken as our approval of your reporting method or calculations. Documentation and records that support your remittance should be maintained in the event it is requested by the auditor during future job verifications.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, contact Helen Dyck at Audit Headquarters. The office phone number is 512-463-7639. For written correspondence, please send an email to Audit.Ent.Zone@cpa.texas.gov.