6 permits · verified 2026-08-24
What permits do you need to open a food truck in Mckinney?
In short
A food truck in Mckinney, TX has 2 permits that apply to every business of this type, plus 4 more that depend on your premises, signage or how you are set up. City of McKinney Environmental Health charges $52 per permit for the temporary health permit. 1 of the 6 are charged as a range or formula rather than a flat fee. Verified 2026-08-24 against the issuing agencies’ published fee schedules.
The permits at a glance
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary Health Permitonly if it applies to you | City of McKinney Environmental Health | $52 per permit | not stated in the published schedule | 2026-08-24 |
| Farmers Market Permitonly if it applies to you | City of McKinney Environmental Health | $100 per year | 1 year | 2026-08-24 |
| Certificate of Formationonly if it applies to you | Texas Secretary of State | $300 one-time filing | no expiry | 2026-08-20 |
| Assumed Name Certificate (DBA)only if it applies to you | Texas Secretary of State | $25 one-time filing | up to ten years, renewable | 2026-08-21 |
| Mobile Food Vendor Permit (State) | Texas Department of State Health Services | $309–$876 application fee, by food-handling type | one year from the pre-licensing inspection | 2026-08-20 |
| Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts | No fee — there is no fee for this permit | no expiry while actively engaged in business | 2026-08-21 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
How much does it actually cost to permit a food truck in Mckinney?
There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 6 records listed for a food truck in Mckinney, TX, 2 apply to every business of this type and 4 are conditional. Adding every fee on the page together would overstate what most operators pay, because it would include permits they never need.
Of the 2 that always apply, 1 carry a flat fee, coming to $0.00. That is a floor, not a total. 1 of the 6 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 0 have no fee published at all. The ones that vary:
Mobile Food Vendor Permit (State): $309–$876 application fee, by food-handling type
Which offices issue these permits in Mckinney?
Permits for a food truck in Mckinney, TX come from 4 separate offices: City of McKinney Environmental Health, Texas Secretary of State, Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.
Is anything about these requirements changing?
$52, the figure that recurs across Texas because it tracks the state maximum for a temporary food establishment permit under Chapter 437. A concession stand is priced separately at $100. The schedule does not state the term, so confirm how many days $52 buys before booking a run of events.
$100 a year, which is the ceiling the state sets. Under Health and Safety Code section 437.0065 a farmers market permit must run for at least a year, may not cost more than $100 to issue or renew, and must cover sales at every farmers market, farm stand and farm inside the permitting authority's jurisdiction — so one permit covers all McKinney markets, not one per stall.
Required to form an LLC or corporation, not to trade as a sole proprietor. Texas has no statewide general business licence, so for many businesses this filing plus a sales and use tax permit is the entire state-level obligation.
Only needed if you trade under a name different from the one on your formation filing. The certificate is effective for a term not exceeding ten years from the date of filing and does not roll over by itself — it must be actively renewed, and a new certificate can be filed within six months of the original expiring. The $25 is the Secretary of State fee; sole proprietors and general partnerships file with the county clerk instead, at county rates.
Since 1 July 2026 one DSHS permit covers every Texas jurisdiction, replacing separate permits from each local health department. Three tiers by food handling: Type I (no time/temperature controlled foods) $309 with no pre-licensing inspection fee; Type II (limited TCS handling) $618 plus a $400 pre-licensing inspection; Type III (full preparation) $876 plus a $500 pre-licensing inspection. The licence expires one year from the successfully completed pre-licensing inspection, not from the application date. Temporary food dealer permits could not be issued to mobile vendors in Texas after 30 June 2026.
There is no fee for this permit — the Comptroller says so directly, which is worth stating because a blank fee reads as though nobody knows. It does not expire on a date, but it is not permanent either: it is valid only while you are actively engaged in business as a seller, and the Comptroller's office may cancel it on finding that you are not. Filing obligations keep it alive, so a return must be filed for every period even when there were no taxable sales or purchases to report. Apply through Comptroller eSystems and allow two to three weeks.
Sources
Every figure above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown. Confirmed by Editorial Team.
- City of McKinney Ordinance amending Chapter 46, Food Establishment Regulations, and Appendix A Schedule of Fees, passed 2 December 2025City of McKinney, filed with Texas Department of State Health Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-24
- Formation of Texas Entities FAQs - Texas Secretary of StateTexas Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-22
- Form 503 - Instructions for Assumed Name CertificateTexas Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-22
- Mobile Food Vendors - Texas DSHSTexas Department of State Health Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-22
- Sales and Use Tax Permit — Texas ComptrollerTexas Comptroller of Public Accounts · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-20
Related
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.
