Start a Texas LLC

Hire us and get the most affordable registered agent service in Texas—just $35/year, with no price hikes or hidden fees.

How Much Does a Texas LLC Cost?

The state filing fee for the Texas Certificate of Formation is $300 (about $310 online). Our registered agent service is $35/year, and our LLC formation is a one-time fee of $100.

With Texan Registered Agent LLC, you save the most money year over year. Many of our clients started with Big Name registered agents but switched to us after they saw their bill double or triple after the first year.

Skip the Switch: We guarantee that your $35/year rate will never go up, saving you hundreds of dollars over time.

How Does Our LLC Formation Service Work?

After you order our Texas LLC package:

1. We list our Texas Business Address for every member of your LLC to protect your privacy.
2. Our filers prepare and submit your Certificate of Formation.
3. The SOS confirms your LLC.
4. Your confirmation and custom business documents arrive.
5. We provide a full year of Texas Registered Agent Service.
6. At the end of the year, your registered agent service renews for $35. There are no fees to cancel at any time.

How to Start an LLC in Texas

Use our free online tool to complete your Certificate of Formation. Just download, print, and mail to the TX Secretary of State with the state filing fee, or save your progress and come back later.

Every Texas LLC needs a name. You should review the legal restrictions for Texas LLCs to be sure you do not violate state law. It is also worth taking the time to do a simple Texas business name search. This will tell you whether or not the name you are considering is already in use by another business.

According to Texas Business Organizations Code Sec. § Section 5.053, you cannot register a name that is too similar to the name of another Texas entity. This is one of the most common reasons new business filings are rejected by the Texas Secretary of State. If you want to hold a name before you file, you can file a Name Reservation, which is good for 120 days. Another important point to consider: if you’re a licensed professional, chances are you’ll have to form what’s known as a Professional LLC and include “PLLC” or “professional limited liability company” in your business name. (PLLCs are required for most people who work in medical or legal fields.)

Tip: To ensure the name reservation process does not cause any unnecessary delays when the time comes to form your LLC, make sure that the executioner of the name reservation (the person who submits and signs the form) is one of the managers of your LLC.

According to Texas law, every LLC must appoint a Texas registered agent on the Certificate of Formation. Your registered agent is the person or business entity responsible for accepting service of process on behalf of your company.

Your Texas registered agent must:

• Have a physical address (not a P.O. box) in Texas.
• Be present at that address during regular business hours to accept service of process.
• Be willing to have their address in a public database.

You can be your own registered agent if you live in Texas, keep regular business hours, and don’t mind your address being made public. Otherwise, consider hiring a registered agent service (like us!). When you hire us, you can use our Austin business address on your Certificate of Formation in all address fields, keeping your personal address private.

Our registered agent service is only $35 a year, every year. While many of our competitors offer a low starting price only to double or triple it at renewal time, we keep our price low so our customers feel good about renewing year after year.

An operating agreement—often referred to as a ‘company agreement’ in the State of Texas—is the governing document of your LLC. This legally binding agreement establishes the ownership, management, and procedures of your LLC, and all LLC members must agree to it.

It’s a good idea to create your operating agreement as early as possible, to avoid confusion or disputes later on. You may want to hire an attorney to review the agreement before it’s finalized. You do not need to file this document with anyone, but you should keep it with your business records.

With our LLC formation and Texas registered agent service, we include a free attorney-drafted LLC operating agreement, customized for your LLC structure.

The Texas Certificate of Formation is divided into sections called Articles. Each Article asks for specific information which is required for formation.

Articles

• Article 1: Entity Name and Type
  List the name of your LLC here.
• Article 2: Registered Agent and Registered Office
  You must list the name and address of your Texas registered agent. The address must be a physical street address. It cannot be a PO box or a virtual address.
• Article 3: Governing Authority
  You must select whether your LLC will be managed by its members or by appointed managers. Regardless of which option you choose, you are required to list the names and addresses of all your initial governors (either members or managers).
• Article 4: Purpose
  Technically, you are not required to add anything to this section. It is already filled out with the basic state law, which is that your LLC is organized to conduct lawful purposes. However, there is space to include supplemental information should you want to more completely detail the business purpose of your LLC.

Execution

After the Articles, the final section of the Certificate of Formation is related to executing the formation. The information in this section is unique in that it cannot be amended later, whereas information in your Articles can be altered by filing an amendment.

Organizer

The organizer is simply the individual who has prepared and filed your Certificate of Formation. This does not have to be a member or employee of your LLC. For example, if you hired Texan Registered Agent to form your LLC, we would sign as your organizer.

Effectiveness of Filing

You must select one of three options for when the Certificate of Formation is to become “effective” (in other words, the time in which your LLC actually goes into existence).

• When the document is filed by the Secretary of State
• A later date, not to be more than 90 days after the date of signing
• A later date depended upon a specific event, not to be more than 90 days after signing

If you select the third option, you must supply the specific event or fact that will cause the Certificate of Formation to take effect. There is no limit on what event you can specify, but it must be specific. Once the event or fact has occurred, you must file a Statement of Event or Fact with the SOS.

For example, you may say that when your LLC has raised $10,000 of capital then the document will be effective. As long as the money is raised within 90 days, the Certificate of Formation will be executed. If the money is not raised within that time, then the formation does not occur.

Signature

The document must be signed and dated by the organizer.

Note that if you’ve already formed your LLC in another state and want to do business in Texas, you’ll need to register as a Texas Foreign LLC. (We can help with that, too!)

Multi-member LLCs, all LLCs with employees, and LLCs taxed as corporations are required to obtain an Employer Identification Number. You can apply for an EIN at the IRS website. It is free to apply and the application is pretty straightforward.

A Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOI) is a mandatory, free federal filing made with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). On the filing, your LLC provides the following identifying information for the people with substantial control over or ownership stake in the company (the “beneficial owners”), as well those who formed the LLC or directed it to be filed (the “company applicants”):

• Full legal name
• Date of birth
• Residential address
• Copy of an accepted form of ID (like passport of driver’s license)

The information provided will NOT be made public. The requirement goes into effect January 1, 2024. At that point, companies formed in 2024* will have 90 days after their date of formation to file a BOI, and companies formed after that will have 30 days. While there are some exceptions—like companies in the financial sector—the vast majority of LLCs must file a BOI report. We offer BOI report filing for just $25.

*Any company formed before 2024 has until January 1, 2025 to file their report.

As of 2024, LLCs that make less than $2.47 million do not need to file a No Tax Due Report or pay the Texas Franchise Tax. However, they do need to file a Public Information Report with the Texas Comptroller by May 15 each year.

You can submit this form by mail to:

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
P.O. Box 149348
Austin, TX 78714

Texas LLC FAQs

What are the benefits of forming an LLC in Texas?

There are several ways forming an LLC can benefit your business:

• Liability Protection. LLC stands for “limited liability company,” and one of the main benefits of LLCs is how they can protect their members from personal liability. LLCs are legally separate from their members, so if the LLC is sued or goes into debt, members are usually not held personally liable and their individual assets are protected.
• Flexibility. LLCs have fewer requirements than corporations. For example, LLCs don’t need to have a board of directors or hold annual meetings. Instead, most of the specifics of how your LLC is managed can be decided by you in your LLC operating agreement.
• Tax Options. LLCs are taxed as “pass-through entities” by default, which means they don’t have to pay corporate income tax. Instead, the profits and losses “pass through” the business to the members, who report them on their individual tax returns. An LLC can also opt to be taxed as an S-corporation or C-corporation.

What is a Texas DBA?

DBA stands for “doing business as.” A Texas DBA (also called an assumed name) is a name used by a business that isn’t the business’s legal name. Your LLC’s legal name will be the name you put on the Certificate of Formation. If you decide you want to use a different business name, you’ll need to register the name as a DBA.

LLCs that want to register a DBA must file an Assumed Name Certificate with the Texas Secretary of State ($25). The certificate needs to be renewed every 10 years. In most counties, LLCs only need to register their DBA at the state level, not the county level. However, in a few places, such as Tarrant County, assumed names must be filed at both the state and the county level.

How do I maintain an LLC in Texas?

Once you start your LLC, there are a few steps to take to maintain your LLC over time:

1. Open a business bank account. In order to keep your LLC finances separate from personal finances, it’s important to open a business bank account right away. Contact your bank to see what information they require.
2. File the Public Information Report. Unless your LLC makes over $2.47 million a year, you won’t need to pay Texas franchise tax. But you still need to submit an annual Public Information Report with the Texas Comptroller. The due date is May 15.
3. Amend Your Certificate of Formation when required. If any of the information on your Certificate of Formation changes, such as your business name or registered agent, you’ll need to file a Certificate of Correction with the Secretary of State. All LLC members must approve the change.