Texas Webfile Number: Where the XT or RT Code Is Printed, and Which Address Gets That Mail

XT, RT, and FQ numbers: which one you need

The two letters tell you which tax the number belongs to. A company that collects sales tax and also owes franchise tax has more than one Webfile number. The Comptroller’s help page lists three kinds.

Webfile covers more than sales tax and franchise tax. The Comptroller’s File and Pay page lists 21 taxes and fees you can file with Webfile, from Sales and Use and Franchise to Hotel and IFTA. Tobacco has three report types listed under it. You enter a Webfile number for each tax or fee you add.

Where the number is printed: what we counted

We read five Comptroller pages that explain where to find the number. We pulled every sentence that uses a form of the word “print” to say where the Webfile number appears. Counting each wording once, there are eight different sentences.

The eight sentences do not use one position. For RT numbers, the help page says “upper left margin of the return.” For XT numbers, it says “upper right corner of the notification letter” and “top left corner of each franchise tax delinquent notice.” The account setup page says the number is “printed in the upper left corner of the tax report we mail to each taxpayer and on most notices.” The certificate request page says the XT number is “printed at the top of most Franchise Tax notices sent by the Comptroller.” The other three sentences are general, or cover the FQ number. The help page puts the FQ number in “the right corner of the Registration Letter,” and the Franchise Tax FAQ says the Comptroller “prints this number on the reports and notices we mail to each business.”

In practice, check both top corners of the return or notice, and look for two letters and six digits. Two of the pages say the number is on “most” notices, so some notices may not show it. If one does not, check another notice, the return the Comptroller mailed you, or the franchise tax notification letter.

Which address the Webfile number letter goes to

The Webfile number reaches you by mail. So the address the Comptroller has for your company decides whether you ever see it.

For a Texas LLC formed since January 1, 2022, that address starts on the certificate of formation. The Secretary of State’s Form 205 instructions say that, effective January 1, 2022, a filing entity’s certificate of formation must give an initial mailing address. The instructions add: “The initial mailing address is the address that will be used by the Comptroller of Public Accounts for sending tax information and correspondence to the entity.” The same instructions say “The initial mailing address may be a post office box or street address.”

The franchise tax notification letter carries the XT number. The Comptroller’s help page says “We mail these letters to each taxable entity about six weeks before the due date of the next report.”

Not every account gets paper. The Comptroller’s notification settings page says “Taxpayers who must report taxes electronically may not receive paper returns.” The same page lets you choose paper returns only, email reminders only, or neither. Because the RT number is printed on the paper return, a business with no paper returns may need another way to find it. The page does not say whether the email reminder shows the number.

If you never got the number

The account setup page points to the phone line. The page says: “If you do not have your Webfile number, you can contact us at (800) 442-3453 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

The automated system needs details only the business should know. The certificate request page says it “can provide a Webfile (XT) number if you provide confidential information from a previously filed franchise tax report, such as total revenue or last payment amount (if greater than zero).” If you do not have that information, the same page says “you can use the automated system to request the Webfile number to be mailed to you.” The account setup page, which covers every Webfile number, says “This automated system can provide a Webfile number if you can provide confidential information from a previously filed report.” The page adds: “You can request a duplicate report via this automated system if you cannot provide the confidential information.”

One gap matters here. The pages we read do not say which address the requested number is mailed to. Those pages give no delivery time either. If the address on file is old, fix the address before you ask for the number by mail.

How to change the mailing address on file

The Comptroller gives two ways to change the address. Its change of address page says businesses with eSystems accounts “should update their mailing address for sales, franchise or ag/timber there.” It also says “With eSystems, address changes are immediate and avoid any delays or inconveniences.” The Webfile address help page says to enter “the address where Texas franchise taxpayer notices should be mailed” and to “allow up to 7 days for updates to display everywhere on Webfile.” “Immediate” is the change of address page’s word. The 7-day window comes from the Webfile help page.

The second way is a public web form on the Comptroller’s site. You give the taxpayer number, the Comptroller file number, or the Secretary of State filing number. Then you answer security questions. The choices include total revenue from the previous year, the total paid on the last return, and the RT or XT number. So you can change the address without the Webfile number if you know the figures from a past report.

The two versions of the form ask for different numbers of answers. The Franchise Tax FAQ, which links to a franchise tax version of the form, says you “must provide two pieces of confidential information.” The general change of address form asks you to “respond to one of the statements listed below.” The general form also asks: “Send all mail from the Comptroller to this address?”

The Comptroller mailing address is separate from your registered office. The Franchise Tax FAQ says the Secretary of State “maintains and updates Registered Agent and/or Office information.” So a registered office change goes through the Secretary of State. Our guides to the Texas Public Information Report address fields and the Texas annual report cover the addresses on those filings.

1. 1Find the 11-digit taxpayer number. The Comptroller’s account setup page points to its Taxable Entity Search for this number.
2. 2If you can log in to eSystems, update the mailing address there. The Comptroller says the change is immediate, and its Webfile help page says to allow up to 7 days for updates to show everywhere in Webfile.
3. 3If you cannot log in, use the Comptroller’s change of address web form. Have last year’s total revenue or your last return’s totals ready.
4. 4After the address is current, call 1-800-442-3453 for the Webfile number. For a franchise tax (XT) number, you can also ask the system to mail it. For other taxes, the system can also give the number if you supply details from a past report, or you can request a duplicate report.
5. 5Add the account in Webfile with the taxpayer number and the Webfile number.

Choosing an address the Comptroller can reach

Missing mail from the Comptroller can cost a Texas business its right to transact business. Our guide to the Texas notice of intent to forfeit explains the 45-day window, which runs from the mailing date. Our guide to Forfeited Existence covers what happens after that.

Use a mailing address where the company’s mail is read promptly. The Form 205 instructions say the initial mailing address “may be a post office box or street address.” Before you list a new address, our free address checker shows how USPS classifies it.

Our Silicon Valley and Los Angeles pages describe the business addresses save office offers.