What a Texas LLC has to file, what it pays, and where to look it up. An LLC is a state entity, so every figure on this page is specific to Texas.
Verified against the Texas Secretary of State, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and the Texas Workforce Commission, August 2026.
LLC rules, taxes, details Texas
Formation
You form a Texas LLC by filing a Certificate of Formation, Form 205, with the Texas Secretary of State. Filing is done online at SOSDirect.
It costs $300. An out-of-state LLC that wants to transact business in Texas registers on Form 304, and that costs $750, which is one of the highest foreign registration fees in the country.
The Certificate of Formation must contain:
- The LLC name, including a proper designation
- The registered agent’s name and Texas registered office address
- Whether the LLC is governed by managers or by its members, with their names and addresses
- A general or specific lawful purpose
- The initial mailing address for tax correspondence
- The organiser’s signature, which does not need to be notarised
Naming rules
- The name must contain Limited Liability Company or Limited Company, or one of the abbreviations LLC, L.L.C., LC or L.C. Limited can be shortened to Ltd and Company to Co.
- The name has to be distinguishable in the records from any existing domestic or foreign filing entity.
- The name cannot suggest a purpose the LLC is not authorised to carry out, and cannot falsely imply a connection to a government body.
Registered agent
Every Texas LLC must keep a registered agent on file.
- The agent is either an individual Texas resident, or an entity registered to do business in Texas.
- The registered office must be a street address where someone can be served in person during business hours. A mailbox service or answering service is not enough.
- The LLC cannot act as its own registered agent.
- The agent must consent in writing or electronically before being named. The consent is kept in the company’s records rather than filed, and a false statement about it carries penalties.
Annual franchise tax report
Texas does not require an annual report to the Secretary of State. The recurring obligation goes to the Comptroller instead, and it catches people who assume no report means nothing to file.
- Every Texas LLC files a franchise tax report each year, due 15 May. If that falls on a weekend or holiday, the next business day applies.
- The no tax due threshold for the 2026 report is $2.65 million of annualised total revenue. Below that, no franchise tax is payable.
- Being under the threshold does not remove the filing. Since 2024 the No Tax Due Report has gone, but the entity still files either the Public Information Report, Form 05-102, or the Ownership Information Report, Form 05-167.
- Fail to file and the entity can lose its right to transact business in Texas. Reinstating after a tax forfeiture costs $75 and requires the Comptroller to clear the account first.
Full fee schedule
| Certificate of Formation, domestic LLC: | $300.00 |
| Foreign LLC application for registration: | $750.00 |
| Certificate of amendment: | $150.00 |
| Change of registered agent or registered office: | $15.00 |
| Certificate of termination: | $40.00 |
| Reinstatement after tax forfeiture: | $75.00 |
| Voluntary reinstatement: | $15.00 |
| Certificate of fact, including status or existence: | $15.00 |
| Certified copy: | $1.00 per page |
| per page, plus $15.00 per certificate | $15.00 |
| Expedited handling, standard: | $50.00 |
| Expedited handling, next day: | $500.00 |
| Expedited handling, same day: | $750.00 |
Two details people get wrong
No state income tax does not mean no state tax. Texas has no personal income tax, which is why people move LLCs here. It does have the franchise tax, and every LLC is inside it, including single-member LLCs and series LLCs. Most small LLCs owe nothing because of the $2.65 million threshold, but every one of them still files something by 15 May.
Registering from out of state is expensive here. At $750, qualifying a foreign LLC in Texas costs two and a half times what forming a new Texas LLC costs. If most of the business is genuinely in Texas, forming here directly is usually the cheaper route.
LLC tax information Texas
Texas has no personal income tax. What it has instead is a franchise tax on the entity, and a sales tax with a high local component.
Federal classification
- A single-member LLC is disregarded by default. The income reports on the member’s personal return.
- A multi-member LLC is a partnership by default. It files Form 1065, with a K-1 to each member, due 15 March.
- An LLC can elect corporate treatment instead. Form 8832 gives C corp treatment, Form 2553 gives S corp treatment. An S corp files 1120-S by 15 March, a C corp files 1120 by 15 April.
Texas state taxes
- Personal income tax: none. Profits passed through to members are not taxed again at state level.
- Franchise tax: applies to every LLC. No tax is due below $2.65 million of annualised total revenue for the 2026 report year. Above that, the rate is 0.375% for retail and wholesale businesses and 0.75% for everyone else.
- EZ computation: an entity with $20 million or less in annualised total revenue can choose a simplified calculation at 0.331% of apportioned revenue, without the deductions.
- Annual filing: the franchise tax report and the Public Information Report or Ownership Information Report, both due 15 May.
- Sales and use tax: 6.25% at state level, plus local rates up to 2.00%, so the maximum combined rate is 8.25%. You need a sales tax permit before you start selling.
- Unemployment insurance: new employers pay their NAICS industry average or 2.7%, whichever is higher, on the first $9,000 of each employee’s wages. Experience rates run from 0.25% to 6.25%. Register with the Texas Workforce Commission once wages are paid.
LLC lookup Texas
Texas records are public, though the free search is thinner than most states. The Comptroller’s tool is often more useful than the Secretary of State’s for a quick status check.
Search the register
The free taxable entity search sits at comptroller.texas.gov.
- By entity name. Confirms the entity exists and shows its right-to-transact-business status with the Comptroller.
- By taxpayer number or file number. Goes straight to one record when you already hold the number.
- By registered agent. Shows the agent and registered office on file.
The Secretary of State’s own SOSDirect search returns filing history and documents, but it charges per search and needs an account. For most checks the Comptroller’s free search is enough.
File and register
- SOSDirect, at direct.sos.state.tx.us. Form the LLC, amend, change agent, terminate, or order a certificate of fact.
- Texas Comptroller, at comptroller.texas.gov. The franchise tax report, the Public Information Report and the sales tax permit all go here. This is separate from the Secretary of State.
Getting help with a Texas LLC
indinero handles the accounting, tax and CFO work behind all of this for Texas LLCs. If you would rather not track the 15 May franchise report yourself, talk to an expert.
Fees and rates are taken from the Texas Secretary of State, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and the Texas Workforce Commission, and were verified in August 2026. They change. This page is general information, not tax or legal advice for your situation.
LLC information by state: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan.