How to start an LLC in Texas

Check your business name is free

Search for your name on SOSPortal name search. SOSPortal charges a $1.00 fee for each search. The Secretary of State will also do a free early check on a name by phone at (512) 463-5555 or by email. No answer is final until your filed document is reviewed.

Your name must end with

limited liability company, limited company, or a short form of either. The Secretary of State lists L.L.C., L.C. and Ltd. Co. Short forms can be used with or without punctuation, so LLC and LC work too.

Holding a name

Name reservation: $40 for 120 days. You can renew it for $40 in the 30 days before it runs out, as many times as you like. A reservation is not tied to one business type and can be used for any type.

Words you can’t use, or need permission to use:

• lotto or lottery (not allowed at all)
• veteran, legion, foreign, Spanish, disabled, war or world war, when the name suggests a veterans' organization (needs written approval from a recognized veterans' group)
• bank, banc, bank and trust, trust (needs a letter of no objection from the Texas Banking Commissioner; $100 request fee)
• college, university, school of medicine, medical school, health science center, school of law, law school, law center (needs approval in advance from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board)

Also worth knowing:

• Your name must be clearly different from every business name already on the Texas records. That includes companies from other states registered in Texas, their trading names, and names someone has reserved or registered. If your name differs only in its ending (LLC instead of Inc.), you need the other company's written consent, signed in front of a notary. Even with consent, the Secretary of State can refuse a name it decides is the same.
• The Comptroller's Franchise Tax Account Status search also lets anyone look up existing Texas businesses by name.

Choose your registered agent

Every LLC needs a registered agent: a person or company with an address in Texas who receives legal papers and official letters for it.

Can you do it yourself?

An owner, officer or employee can be the registered agent if they are an individual who lives in Texas. The LLC itself can never be its own registered agent.

Address rules

The registered office must be a Texas street address where legal papers can be handed to the agent in person during business hours. It cannot be only a mailbox service or a phone answering service.

Do they need to agree?

Yes. The agent must agree in writing or electronically before being named. The LLC keeps this consent (Form 401-A) instead of filing it. When the organizer (the person who files the form) signs Form 205, they confirm the consent exists.

• An organization can be the agent only if it is registered or authorized to do business in Texas and keeps an employee at the registered office during business hours.
• The Secretary of State cannot be anyone's registered agent and keeps no list of agent service companies.
• Naming someone without their consent is a false-filing offense. That person can file a rejection of the appointment, which ends it.

File the form that creates your LLC

The form is called the Certificate of Formation (Form 205). File it online at SOSPortal. The fee: $300 (paying online by card adds a convenience fee of $0.25 plus 2.25%; ACH bank payment is also accepted)

You’ll be asked for:

• LLC name
• registered agent (an organization or an individual who lives in Texas) and the registered office street address in Texas
• who runs the LLC: whether it has managers or not, plus the name and address of each initial manager, or each initial member (owner) if there are no managers
• purpose (already filled in as any lawful purpose)
• initial mailing address, for franchise tax (a yearly state business tax) mail from the Comptroller
• optional extra terms (for example, a limited duration, meaning a set end date)
• organizer (the person who files the form): name and address
• effective date: when filed, a later date within 90 days of signing, or a future event
• organizer signature, confirming the agent has agreed and the name does not falsely suggest a government link

Good to know about the Texas form:

• Since January 1, 2022, the certificate must give an 'initial mailing address'. The Comptroller uses it to send franchise tax letters. A PO box is allowed.
• The organizer signs a statement that the name does not falsely suggest a link with a government body. This is signed under penalty of perjury (knowingly signing a false statement is a crime).
• For $50, the Secretary of State will check a draft filing in advance (preclearance) before you file it for real, online or in person.
• Filings that include personal identifying information, extra copies or the instruction pages can be rejected.

Prefer paper? Yes. You can mail Form 205 to P.O. Box 13697, Austin, TX 78711-3697, or deliver it to 400 W. 15th St., Austin, with a check or money order. A handwritten (wet-ink) signature is not needed.

Wait for approval (or pay to speed it up)

The Secretary of State does not publish a usual processing time. It says filing online through SOSPortal is the fastest, and proof of filing is emailed to the person who submitted it.

The times given are review times only. The Secretary of State says paying for faster service does not guarantee a document will be filed.

After approval: what to do next

Once your LLC is approved, get its EIN (the business tax number), free from the IRS. Then work through what Texas asks for next:

• Franchise Tax Accountability Questionnaireafter the Comptroller's letter arrives (soon after formation) · free

  The Comptroller opens a franchise tax (a yearly state business tax) account for you automatically, using Secretary of State data. It mails you a letter with an FQ Webfile number. New Texas LLCs must complete the questionnaire online to confirm the mailing address and tax start date.

• First franchise tax filing and Public Information ReportMay 15 of the year after the LLC is formed (an LLC formed in 2026 files by May 15, 2027) · no tax due if annualized revenue (scaled to a full year) is at or below $2.65 million (2026 and 2027 reports); the PIR is free

  Below this limit, you file no franchise tax report, but you must still file Form 05-102, the Public Information Report. Above it, the LLC files a franchise tax report based on its margin (revenue after certain deductions).

• Annual Public Information Report (every year)May 15 each year (the next business day if it falls on a weekend or holiday) · free

  If you miss the PIR, the LLC can lose its right to do business in Texas. It then cannot sue or defend itself in a Texas court, and officers and members can become personally responsible for certain debts of the LLC.

• Sales and use tax permitbefore selling, leasing or renting out taxable goods, or selling taxable services, in Texas · free (a security bond, a guarantee that you will pay the tax, may be required)

  Apply online with the Comptroller. Allow 2-3 weeks to receive the permit.

• Texas Workforce Commission unemployment tax accountwithin 10 days of becoming an employer that must pay the tax

  An employer has to pay the tax once it pays $1,500 or more in gross wages (before deductions) in a calendar quarter. It also has to pay once it has at least one employee in 20 different weeks of a calendar year.

• Business license (none at state level)before you start trading, where one applies

  The Governor's office says Texas does not require a general business license. Licenses and permits depend on the activity, at state and local level.

• Assumed name certificate (if you trade under another name)before using the other name · $25

  An LLC files Form 503 with the Secretary of State, not the county clerk (county filing for businesses ended in 2019). It lasts up to 10 years and does not stop anyone else from using the same name.