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TABC Study Guide and Practice Test

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What is the general minimum age to sell, prepare or serve liquor as an employee under section 106.09?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Bank checked October 4, 2026.

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Seller training and the certificate 16

  • A certificate holder gave a seller server school a false name and birth date. If the certificate is revoked, when may the holder be recertified? Answer: Never. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.31(a)(4)
  • A certificate holder sells to an intoxicated person a second time within 12 months and the certificate is revoked. How long until the holder may be recertified? Answer: 90 days. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.31(a)(2)
  • A manager tells a trained server to keep serving a customer who is clearly intoxicated. What does section 106.14 say about the employer's protection? Answer: It is lost, because the employer encouraged the violation. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.14(a)(3)
  • After a third sale to a minor or an intoxicated person within 12 months and revocation, how long must the holder wait to be recertified? Answer: One year. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.31(a)(3)
  • An employer requires seller training, but one employee never actually attended. Does section 106.14 protect the employer for that employee's sale to a minor? Answer: No, the employee must have actually attended. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.14(a)(2)
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Seller training and the certificate, continued

  • How long is the classroom-based course of instruction for a Texas seller server certificate under 16 TAC § 50.29? Answer: 120 minutes. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.29(a)(1)
  • Under 16 TAC § 50.31(b), how long does a certificate holder have to request a hearing after receiving notice of a violation? Answer: 21 days. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.31(b)
  • Under 16 TAC § 50.31, a certificate holder sells to a minor for the first time. What must happen within 30 days of the violation? Answer: The holder must be recertified. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.31(a)(1)
  • Under 16 TAC § 50.9, how soon must an internet-based school issue a certificate to a student who has met the requirements? Answer: Within 24 hours. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.9(e)(1)
  • Under 16 Texas Administrative Code § 50.29, what must a student do to receive a seller server certificate? Answer: Complete an approved course and pass the Commission Standard Competence Test. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.29(a)
  • Under section 106.14(c), a licensee may run its own commission-approved seller training program for its employees if it employs at least how many people who sell, serve or prepare alcohol? Answer: 150. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.14(c)
  • Under Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code section 106.14, which is one of the three conditions for an employee's actions not to be attributed to the employer? Answer: The employer requires employees to attend a commission-approved seller training program. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.14(a)(1)
  • When does a Texas seller server certificate expire under 16 TAC § 50.28? Answer: On the second anniversary of the date it is issued. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.28(b)
  • Which of these makes a seller server certificate void under 16 TAC § 50.30? Answer: It has been altered. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.30(a)
  • Which topic does 16 TAC § 50.3 require in every seller server course? Answer: The law pertaining to proper identification. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.3(e)
  • Whose responsibility is it to check that a seller server school or trainer is certified? Answer: The student's. Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 50.29(b)

Minors and identification 12

  • A 20-year-old tells a bartender, 'I'm 21,' to get a drink. What does section 106.07 say? Answer: The minor commits the offense of misrepresenting age. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.07(a)
  • A customer buys a beer for a 19-year-old friend at a bar. Under section 106.06, what is this? Answer: An offense, a Class A misdemeanor in most cases. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.06
  • A minor shows an apparently valid government ID with a photo and description that match, stating they are 21. Under section 106.03(b), has the seller committed the offense? Answer: No, the code says no offense in that case. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.03(b)
  • A seller scans a license and the electronically readable information shows it is invalid. Can the seller still use the defense in section 106.03(b)? Answer: No, subsection (d) takes it away. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.03(d)
  • For a retailer's first finding of selling to a minor with criminal negligence, section 106.13(a) allows a suspension of up to how long? Answer: 90 days. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.13(a)
  • For a third offense within 36 consecutive months, section 106.13(b) allows the commission to suspend a retailer's permit for up to how long? Answer: 12 months. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.13(b)
  • In the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, who is a minor? Answer: A person under 21 years of age. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.01
  • What class of offense is a sale to a minor under section 106.03? Answer: A Class A misdemeanor. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.03(c)
  • What level of fault does section 106.03 require for the offense of selling an alcoholic beverage to a minor? Answer: Criminal negligence. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.03(a)
  • When may a minor possess an alcoholic beverage under section 106.05(b)? Answer: In the course and scope of lawful employment by a licensee or permittee. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.05(b)(1)
  • Which documents does section 106.03(b) name as possible proof of identification? Answer: A DPS driver's license or ID card, a passport, or a military ID. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.03(b)
  • Which showing lets the commission relax the section 106.13 sanctions on a retailer? Answer: An employee violated the code without the retailer's knowledge. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.13(c)

Employees under 18 4

  • Under section 106.09(c), may a restaurant with an on-premises permit employ a 17-year-old? Answer: Yes, in any job other than actually selling, preparing or serving alcohol. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.09(c)
  • Under section 106.09(e) and (f), when may a person under 18 work as a cashier for alcohol sales at an on-premises business? Answer: When a person 18 or older serves the alcohol and the business qualifies. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.09(e)
  • What does section 106.09(b) allow the holder of a wine only package store permit to do? Answer: Employ a person 16 or older in any capacity. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.09(b)
  • What is the general minimum age to sell, prepare or serve liquor as an employee under section 106.09? Answer: 18. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.09(a)

Intoxicated persons and liability 5

  • A seller with no earlier conviction sells alcohol to an intoxicated person with criminal negligence. What punishment does section 101.63(b) set? Answer: $100 to $500, with jail of up to one year possible. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 101.63(b)
  • For a person 18 or older, what does section 2.03(c) say about chapter 2? Answer: It is the exclusive cause of action for providing alcohol. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 2.03(c)
  • Under section 2.02(b), a provider can be held liable for serving a person only if, at the time, it was apparent the person was what? Answer: Obviously intoxicated to the extent of presenting a clear danger to himself and others. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 2.02(b)(1)
  • Under section 101.63(a), it is an offense to sell an alcoholic beverage with criminal negligence to which of these? Answer: An intoxicated person. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 101.63(a)
  • What second element does section 2.02(b) require before serving an obviously intoxicated person leads to liability? Answer: The intoxication was a proximate cause of the damages. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 2.02(b)(2)

Hours of sale and consumption 8

  • In a standard hours area, during which weekday hours is it an offense to consume an alcoholic beverage in a public place, including licensed premises? Answer: Between 12:15 a.m. and 7 a.m. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.06(b)
  • In an extended hours area, when does the weekday ban on consuming alcohol in a public place begin? Answer: 2:15 a.m. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.06(c)
  • On a weekday, between what hours may a mixed beverage permittee sell mixed beverages without a late hours certificate? Answer: 7 a.m. to midnight. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.03(b)
  • On Sunday, a mixed beverage permittee serves a customer at 11 a.m. What does section 105.03(b) require? Answer: The drink must be provided during the service of food. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.03(b)
  • What class of offense is consuming alcohol in a public place during the banned hours of section 105.06? Answer: A Class C misdemeanor. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.06(e)
  • When may an on-premise retailer sell malt beverages (beer) on a Sunday before noon under section 105.05(b)? Answer: From 10 a.m., if served during the service of food. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.05(b)(1)
  • Who may consume alcohol in a hotel bar at any time under section 105.06(f)? Answer: A registered guest of the hotel. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.06(f)
  • With a retailer late hours certificate in a qualifying city or county, until what time may a mixed beverage permittee sell? Answer: 2 a.m. Source: Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.03(c)

How this list was compiled: Every question rests on one section of Texas law, read on 2026-10-04 and named in the question's own source line. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, read on the Legislature's Texas Constitution and Statutes site, https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/AL/htm/ : sections 2.02, 2.03, 101.63, 105.03, 105.05, 105.06, 106.01, 106.03, 106.05, 106.06, 106.07, 106.09, 106.13 and 106.14. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission's seller server rules, 16 Texas Administrative Code chapter 50, read in the copy kept by the Cornell Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/texas/title-16/part-3/chapter-50 , which says state regulations are updated quarterly: sections 50.3, 50.9, 50.28, 50.29, 50.30 and 50.31. No code section or rule read gives a number of questions or a pass mark for the Commission Standard Competence Test, and the bank stores none. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site from the statute and rule text; nothing is copied from a seller server school, the commission's curriculum (which 16 TAC 50.3 says is the commission's copyright) or another practice test. Short quotations from the law are marked.

How it works

This unofficial TABC study guide holds 45 free practice questions from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code and the seller server rules, each naming its section. Certified schools teach the course and give the commission's test; this bank is law only.

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What the seller-server course covers, and what is here

16 TAC 50.3 lists the mandatory topics: the law on intoxicated persons, minors and identification, plus detecting intoxication and false IDs, an effects chart and intervention. This bank drills the law and the certificate rules; detection and intervention belong to the school's course.

The certificate and its test

A certificate follows a 120-minute class or an online course and a pass on the Commission Standard Competence Test (50.29), and it expires two years after issue (50.28). No rule read gives that test's length or pass mark, so this page sets no pass mark; Exam mode draws 25, this site's choice.

  • Section 106.14 protects an employer only when training is required, the employee attended, and the employer did not encourage the violation.
  • Sunday before noon: drinks served from 10 a.m. come with food (105.03, 105.05).
  • Selling to a minor or an intoxicated person means recertifying within 30 days (16 TAC 50.31).

Questions and answers

How long is a TABC certification good for?

Two years. 16 Texas Administrative Code 50.28(b) says a seller server certificate expires on the second anniversary of the date it is issued. Selling to a minor or an intoxicated person means recertifying within 30 days (50.31).

How old do you have to be to serve alcohol in Texas?

18. Section 106.09(a) bars employing a person under 18 to sell, prepare, serve or otherwise handle liquor, with narrow exceptions: a 16-year-old at a wine only package store, and some cashier work where someone 18 or older serves.

Is there a free TABC practice test?

This page is one: 45 free practice questions written from the Alcoholic Beverage Code and 16 TAC chapter 50, with the section under every answer. It is unofficial and is not the Commission Standard Competence Test, which certified schools give.

Are these the real TABC test questions?

No. This site has never seen the Commission Standard Competence Test. The questions were written from the code and the rules, and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission did not write or review them.

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