Texas laws on lemonade

You’ve probably read about 7-year-old Julie Murphy, and the Multnomah County (Oregon) health inspectors that shut down her lemonade stand. She was selling it for 50 cents per cup at a monthly fair near Portland, OR. When approached by a health department inspector for her permit, she had none, and they shut her down.

First, don’t let this scare you from getting into the Lemonade Business. We’re talking about making $4 to $5 per glass of our addicting refreshments, not 50 cents. If you are serious about making good money over the weekend at a festival, then you have to treat this like a real business. One of the first things to do is just talk to the health department. They will have more regard for you and your efforts if you make the step to contact them as opposed to them finding out about your illegal operation.

Business License for a Lemonade Cart

Face it, if you are doing something that makes money, the government will want to be involved. Over time, if you keep showing up at the same event (farmers market, city festival, flea market), a city or county official will want to see your business license. Again, nothing to worry about. Just go to city hall or the county court house and tell them what you want to do. We’re talking about spending less than $100 per year to make over $500 per weekend. Don’t let that stop you from making real money with your cart.

Sales Tax for a Lemonade Business

Most people that are not in business don’t understand sales tax. The law does not require the buyer to pay sales tax. The law requires the seller to pay the sales tax. The seller is just passing their burden on to you.
What this means is that you do not have to charge sales tax when you are selling lemonade at a festival, but you have to pay sales tax to the city, county and state after your sales are totaled at the end of the event. I don’t like it, but don’t let paying a percentage of your sales prevent you from keeping 90% of what you just made.

In summary, don’t consider the above topics to be barriers or obstacles to starting your lemonade business. Think of them as tests to see who is really serious about making money this summer.
The ones that gripe about it will be the ones handing you the five dollar bills!