Texas · Start an LLC
Starting a Texas LLC: $300 once, and honestly not much after
Texas is one of the cheapest states to keep an LLC alive: $300 to form, no annual report fee to the Secretary of State, and no franchise tax owed until revenue crosses $2.65 million. The catch people miss isn't a fee — it's a free annual filing you must make anyway. Steps below, every figure cited to the SOS and the Comptroller.
True cost
$300 to form · ~$0/yr to keep
$300 Certificate of Formation (add the statutory 2.7% convenience fee if paying by card — about $308). After that: no SOS annual report, and no franchise tax below the $2.65M revenue threshold — just a free Public Information Report each year. SOS Form 205 instructions Comptroller: franchise tax
The steps, in order
Check the name
Search on SOSDirect ($1 per search, statutory), or ask the SOS for a preliminary determination by phone or email — with their own caveat that nothing is final until the filing is processed. A 120-day name reservation (Form 501, $40) exists but is optional — most filers skip straight to formation. SOS Form 501 Fee schedule (Form 806)
Pick a registered agent
An individual Texas resident or an organization authorized to do business in Texas, with a physical Texas address — a bare P.O. box or answering service doesn't qualify, and the LLC can't serve as its own agent. The agent must consent in writing (Form 401-A evidences it), but here's the detail most guides get wrong: you keep the consent in your records — filing it with the SOS is optional ($15 if you choose to). SOS: registered agent FAQ
File the Certificate of Formation (Form 205) — $300
File online through SOSDirect or SOSUpload (the SOS strongly encourages it — online filings show processing in real time; mail takes at least a business day just to be logged). In a hurry? The new Texas Express tiers (launched 2025–26, replacing the old flat $25 expedite): $50 standard expedited (~2–3 business days), $500 next-day, $750 same-day. SOS: filing options Texas Express
Get the EIN — free, directly from the IRS
Minutes online, $0 — the IRS itself warns: "You never have to pay a fee for an EIN." IRS: get an EIN
Calendar the one recurring duty: the Public Information Report
LLCs file no annual report with the SOS. Instead, the franchise-tax system requires an annual filing with the Comptroller — and since 2024, small entities at or below the no-tax-due threshold ($2,650,000 for report years 2026–27) owe no tax and file no tax report, but must still file the Public Information Report (Form 05-102), free, due May 15. Skipping it is how healthy LLCs drift into forfeiture. SOS FAQ Comptroller: 2024+ changes
No newspaper publication — repealed in 2003
The SOS says it outright: the old requirement to publish intent in a local newspaper for four consecutive weeks was repealed in 2003. Any guide still mentioning Texas publication is more than two decades stale. SOS formation FAQ
Common questions
Does a Texas LLC pay franchise tax?
Only above the no-tax-due threshold — $2,650,000 in annualized revenue for report years 2026–2027 (it was $2.47M in 2024–25; many guides still quote the old number). Below it: no tax, no tax report — just the free Public Information Report each year by May 15.
How fast is formation processed?
Online filings through SOSDirect show processing in real time, and the SOS publishes no fixed standard turnaround — check the Business Filing Tracker. Paid options: $50 standard expedited runs about 2–3 business days; $500 next-day and $750 same-day exist for genuine hurry.
Can I be my own registered agent?
Yes, if you're a Texas resident with a physical Texas address you're willing to make public record and be available at during business hours. The LLC itself can't be its own agent. People buy commercial agent service (~$100–300/yr) mostly for privacy, not because the law requires it.
What's the total cost compared to other states?
Texas is $300 once with ~$0/yr after (below the revenue threshold). Compare California: $70 to form but $800 every year in franchise tax. The formation fee is where Texas looks expensive; the ongoing cost is where it's one of the cheapest states in the country.
Do I need an operating agreement?
Texas doesn't require one to form, but the company agreement is where members' rights actually live — banks ask for it, and without one the default rules of the Business Organizations Code govern. Write one; it costs nothing.
What this guide is, honestly: a careful, statute-cited map of the standard process — not legal advice, and not a substitute for a licensed attorney when the situation is contested or unusual.
Fees and rules verified against the Texas Secretary of State and Comptroller pages linked above, August 2026 — including the 2025–26 Texas Express rollout and the 2026–27 franchise-tax threshold, both of which changed recently enough that most guides are out of date. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.Coming: the guided pack. We're building a $19 step-by-step pack for this process — your answers filled into the right documents, the filing steps for your county, and a checklist you can hand to the bank or clerk. This site is new; the pack ships when it meets our bar.