Texas Music Incubator Rebate (TMIR) Program
Texas Music Office — Office of the Texas Governor
Up to $100,000
TX live-music venue tax rebate
TMIR is a tax-rebate program created by Senate Bill 609 (87th Legislature) to support Texas's live-music economy. It rebates a portion of state mixed-beverage gross receipts taxes, or state sales taxes on beer and wine, paid in the prior fiscal year by qualifying small music venues and music festival promoters. The program is administered by the Texas Music Office under the Governor's Office and is funded at roughly $20.2 million per biennium. In FY2026 the program awarded $10.1 million to 180 recipients across 60 Texas cities. It is designed for independent venues and festivals — venues with a dedicated capacity of no more than 3,000 and festivals held in counties under 100,000 population.
- Funding type
- Tax credit
- Level
- State
- Amount range
- Up to $100,000
- Realistic amount
- FY2026 awarded $10.1M to 180 recipients — an average of about $56,000 per awardee. Smaller v…
- Deadline
- Annual — application window opens September 1 and closes September 30 each year.
- Status
- between-intakes
- States
- Texas
- Payment model
- tax-credit-offset
Who qualifies
- Must be a qualifying music venue or music festival promoter
- Music venue: dedicated audience capacity of no more than 3,000 persons
- Music festival: held in a county with a population of less than 100,000
- Must have been a permittee subject to mixed-beverage gross receipts tax, or sales tax on beer/wine, for at least the two years preceding application
- Must meet at least five of the program's operational criteria (e.g., marketing live music, or providing live-music performances five or more nights per week)
How to apply
-
1
Confirm eligibility and gather tax records
Verify capacity/county thresholds, two-year permittee history, and that you meet at least five operational criteria. Pull prior-fiscal-year mixed-beverage or beer/wine sales-tax records.
~4 hrs
-
2
Complete the TMIR application during the September window
Submit the application through the Texas Music Office during the September 1–30 window, documenting taxes paid and operational criteria met.
~4 hrs
-
3
Review period and proration
TMO reviews applications through January 31. If total qualified requests exceed available funds, rebates are prorated. Determinations begin February 1.
~1 hrs
This is a rebate of taxes you already paid, so your award is mechanically driven by your prior-year alcohol-tax remittances — clean, complete liquor-tax records are the whole game. Apply on day one of the September window: the pool is fixed (~$10M/year) and prorated, so being in the qualified set early and with airtight documentation protects your full share if demand exceeds funds.
Deadline & timing
The FY2026 cycle is closed; the next cycle opens September 1, 2026 with a September 30, 2026 deadline. Review runs through January 31 and award determinations begin February 1. (deadlineDate reflects the expected 2026-09-30 close.)
Programs that stack well
- Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program (TMIIIP)
- tx-music-friendly-community
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Last reviewed 2026. GrantCompass is an independent funding-discovery tool and is not affiliated with any government agency. Always confirm details on the official program page.