Texas EBT and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Your Texas Benefits: one account for SNAP, TANF and Medicaid

YourTexasBenefits.com is a single application for SNAP food benefits, TANF cash help, Medicaid and CHIP; you only see the questions for the programs you pick¹⁰. With an account you can check an application's status, upload proof, report changes, renew, read letters in the paperless Message Center and print a Medicaid card⁴.

The Your Texas Benefits app does the same jobs and is also the main tool for the card: balance, recent purchases, PIN changes, freezing and unfreezing the card and ordering a new one². HHSC says it does not support any other website or app for checking a Lone Star Card balance². For help with the website, call 2-1-1 or 1-877-541-7905, pick a language, then Option 2²⁵.

Your Texas Benefits · App: iPhone, Android

Using and protecting your Lone Star Card

The card comes from your local HHSC benefits office or by mail². Activate it by calling the Lone Star Help Desk at 1-800-777-7328 (1-800-777-7EBT) and choosing a four-digit PIN; then sign the back³. You swipe it like a debit card and type the PIN yourself^2,3. Check the balance in the Your Texas Benefits app, on YourTexasBenefits.com, or by phone².

If the card is lost, freeze it in the app, then order a new one in the app or by phone. The replacement is mailed within seven calendar days, and your PIN and balance move to it³. A forgotten PIN can be reset in the app or by phone; a PIN sent by mail takes about a week³.

Texas does not repay stolen benefits. The FAQ says benefits taken before you call are lost³, and the HHSC Inspector General states that SNAP stolen by skimming on or after December 21, 2024 cannot be replaced because federal funding ended²⁴. HHSC's own advice is to change your PIN at least once a month, check card readers before you swipe, and report fraud at ReportTexasFraud.com or through 2-1-1, Option 3²³.

• Card customer service: 1-800-777-7328
• Cardholder website: Your Texas Benefits
• Cardholder app: Your Texas Benefits (iPhone, Android)

Texas SNAP and EBT phone numbers

Applying for SNAP in Texas

1. Pick one of four ways to file. Apply on YourTexasBenefits.com or the app, at a local HHSC office, or by mail or fax with Form H1010, the Texas Works Application for Assistance. You can also ask for a paper form by phone¹⁰.
2. File the same day, even if incomplete. A form with your name, address and signature is enough to set your file date, and you do not have to be interviewed first. That date starts the 30-day clock^10,13.
3. Do the interview. HHSC interviews the applicant, a spouse, another responsible household member or an authorized representative, at application and at each renewal¹¹.
4. Send any missing proof. If you cannot give all the proof at the interview, HHSC gives you at least 10 days, with a due date on a business day, using Form H1020¹¹.
5. Older or disabled household? Ask about TSAP. If everyone is 60 or older or gets disability payments and no one works, the Texas Simplified Application Project has a shorter form and a three-year approval¹⁷.

HHSC must approve or deny a regular application by the 30th day after the file date¹³. Households with very little money get expedited service. That covers $100 or less in cash and under $150 in gross income, rent and utilities higher than income plus cash, or destitute migrant farmworkers. Only identity (and, for some adults, proof of meeting or being exempt from the work requirement) has to be proven up front; other proof can wait until after the first month's benefits. The handbook says benefits should come the same day if possible and no later than the next business day. Mailed or dropped-off applications must be interviewed and paid by the seventh calendar day¹².

For a paper TSAP form by mail, call 2-1-1 and choose Option 2¹⁷.

Texas income and resource limits for FY2027

Gross limit: as published by Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC)⁵. Net limit and maximum benefit: USDA FY2027 cost-of-living adjustments. All states compared.

The chart above is the 165% column from HHSC's own FY2027 table, Revision 26-4, effective October 1, 2026⁵. The HHSC SNAP page still shows an older chart starting at $2,152 for one person; use the handbook figures for FY2027^1,5. Under Texas categorical eligibility, a household qualifies if it meets the TANF non-cash resource limit and its gross income is at or below 165% of the poverty level. Once it qualifies, the gross and net limits no longer apply⁶.

People 60 or older or with a disability get extra help. Their medical costs over $35 a month count, and Texas uses a $170 standard medical deduction unless the household proves higher costs. Their shelter deduction has no cap^5,9. For everyone else, the FY2027 shelter cap is $769, and the homeless shelter deduction is $205.66⁵.

Net income test. A household that passes Texas's categorical eligibility test (gross income at or under 165% and resources within $5,000) skips the net income test⁶. Households with an elderly or disabled member that do not qualify that way skip the gross test but must pass the 100% net income test⁹.

Assets. Countable resources (cash, bank accounts and the countable value of vehicles) must be $5,000 or less, with no higher limit for older or disabled households⁷. For each adult, one vehicle worth under $8,700 is exempt, and up to $22,500 of the value of the most valuable countable vehicle is exempt. Vehicles with $1,500 or less in equity, income-producing vehicles and homes on wheels are also exempt⁸. Households where everyone gets TANF or SSI have no resource test⁶.

Lone Star Card deposit days

SNAP arrives on one day between the 1st and the 28th of each month, set by the last two digits of your SNAP EDG number, for households approved since May 1, 2023.

Your deposit day is printed on your approval letter (Form TF0001)³. Households approved before May 1, 2023 keep their old day unless they had a break in benefits of six months or more and reapplied after that date¹⁴. A first, prorated payment may arrive in one deposit together with the next month's benefits¹⁴. TANF cash follows a different calendar: the 1st, 2nd or 3rd, based on the last digit of the TANF EDG number¹⁴.

SNAP left unused for nine months from the day it was deposited is removed from the card³.

Renewals, streamlined reporting and the 10-day rule

Most Texas households are approved for six months at a time under streamlined reporting. Stable households of older or unemployable members can get 6 to 12 months, and TSAP and SNAP-CAP households get 36 months. Households with an able-bodied adult under the time limit get 3 to 6 months¹⁵. You renew with Form H1010-R or online at Your Texas Benefits, with an interview^4,11,12. TSAP renewals skip the interview unless you ask for one, someone has earnings, or the case looks likely to be denied¹¹. If you renew within 30 days after your approval period ends, HHSC still screens the form for fast benefits¹².

Between renewals, streamlined households report only three things within 10 days. Report gross income that stays above 130% of the poverty level for two months in a row, an able-bodied adult's work hours dropping below 20 a week on average, and lottery or gambling winnings over $4,750¹⁶. They do not have to report a move or a rent change. Other households have a longer list, including unearned income changes over $150 and resources reaching $5,000¹⁶.

Rules specific to Texas

No candy or sweetened drinks since April 1, 2026

Senate Bill 379, signed in June 2025, and a USDA waiver approved in August 2025 bar SNAP from buying candy and sweetened drinks in Texas from April 1, 2026¹⁸. Candy includes candy bars, gum, taffy, and nuts or fruit that are candied or coated in chocolate, yogurt or caramel. A drink is out if it is water-based with 5 grams or more of added sugar or any artificial sweetener¹⁸. Still allowed: milk and milk-substitute drinks, drinks over 50% juice, stevia- or monk-fruit-sweetened drinks under 5 grams of added sugar, and medical-grade electrolyte drinks not labeled as sports drinks¹⁸.

Work rules and the time limit, with no waived counties

People 16 to 59 must follow basic work rules: answer Texas Workforce Commission letters about SNAP Employment and Training, take a suitable job, and not quit or cut hours below 30 a week without good reason¹⁹. Adults 18 to 64 with no one under 14 in the household get three months of SNAP in three years unless they work or train 80 hours a month or do workfare¹⁹. The Texas handbook lists no waived counties²⁰. Living in a county without SNAP Employment and Training is still an exception; the handbook lists the counties that have it^19,21.

No Summer EBT in 2026 and no restaurant meals

USDA's Summer EBT map, updated August 14, 2026, shows Texas as not participating in 2026, so Texas children did not get the summer grocery benefit²⁶. Texas is also absent from USDA's list of Restaurant Meals Program states (updated August 7, 2026), so the Lone Star Card cannot buy restaurant meals²⁷.

Online grocery orders need your PIN

SNAP can pay for groceries online at approved retailers if you enter your PIN, but not for delivery or service fees, and TANF cash cannot be used online. Take order problems to the retailer first, then to the Lone Star Help Desk²².

Other assistance in Texas

Sources

1. SNAP Food Benefits, Texas Health and Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
2. Lone Star Card, Texas Health and Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
3. Lone Star Card – FAQs, Texas Health and Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
4. Your Texas Benefits, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
5. Texas Works Handbook C-120, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (C-121 income limits, C-121.1 deduction amounts), Revision 26-4, effective Oct. 1, 2026, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
6. Texas Works Handbook B-470, Categorically Eligible Households, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
7. Texas Works Handbook A-1220, Limits, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
8. Texas Works Handbook A-1230, Types of Resources (A-1238, Vehicles), Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
9. Texas Works Handbook B-430, Households with Elderly Members or Members with a Disability, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
10. Texas Works Handbook A-110, Application Procedures, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
11. Texas Works Handbook A-130, Interview Procedures, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
12. Texas Works Handbook A-140, Expedited Service, Revision 26-4, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
13. Texas Works Handbook B-110, Applications (B-112, Deadlines), Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
14. Texas Works Handbook B-250, EBT Benefit Issuance, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
15. Texas Works Handbook A-2320, Eligibility Dates and Benefit Amounts (A-2324, Length of Certification), Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
16. Texas Works Handbook B-620, Reporting Requirements, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
17. Texas Simplified Application Project (TSAP) for SNAP Food Benefits, Texas Health and Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
18. SNAP Purchase Restrictions, Texas Health and Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
19. SNAP Work Rules, Texas Health and Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
20. Texas Works Handbook C-330, SNAP ABAWD Work Requirement Waiver Counties, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
21. Texas Works Handbook C-340, SNAP Employment and Training Counties, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.
22. Buying Food Online with SNAP, Texas Health and Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
23. Lone Star Card Fraud Awareness and Prevention, Texas Health and Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
24. SNAP Skimming Resources, Texas HHS Office of Inspector General. Checked 16 October 2026.
25. Contact Us, Texas Health and Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
26. Summer EBT: Participating States, Territories and Tribes (map updated August 14, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 16 October 2026.
27. SNAP Restaurant Meals Program (updated August 7, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 16 October 2026.