Register your business in Texas

LLCs, corporations, limited partnerships and nonprofits register with the Texas Secretary of State. Sole proprietors and general partnerships don’t file there, but a business name other than the owners’ surnames means an assumed name certificate with the county clerk. There’s no general state business license, and no annual report with the Secretary of State: the yearly filing goes to the Comptroller.

What’s different in Texas

• No annual report with the Secretary of State. Instead, every LLC, corporation and limited partnership files with the Comptroller by May 15 each year, starting May 15 of the year after the year the entity was formed: a franchise tax report when annualized revenue is above $2,650,000, and the Public Information Report (Form 05-102) either way. Stay compliant has the details.
• The registered agent agrees first. The agent gives written or electronic consent before you name them, and an officer, owner or employee can serve, but the entity itself cannot.
• One portal since September 29, 2026. SOSPortal replaced SOSDirect and SOSUpload for filing, name searches, copies and certificates. There’s no publication requirement in Texas, and the Secretary of State accepts a delayed effective date of up to 90 days on certain filings.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor or general partnership can skip to step 6.
2. Check the name on SOSPortal, $1 a search. The office also gives a free preliminary answer on availability by phone or email, though only the filing itself is final. The name must be distinguishable in the Secretary of State's records, which means different from existing Texas entities, registered out-of-state entities and reserved names alike. Search the web and the federal trademark database as well. Not ready to file? Form 501 reserves the name for 120 days ($40), renewable during the 30 days before it expires.
3. Choose a registered agent with a physical address in Texas where papers can be handed over during business hours; a mailbox or answering service alone doesn’t qualify. The agent can be a Texas resident or a business authorized here, and an officer, owner or employee can serve, but the entity itself cannot. Get the agent’s written or electronic consent first and keep it with your records. Filing the consent with the state is optional ($15, or $5 for a nonprofit); the registered agent FAQs cover the rest.
4. File with the Secretary of State on SOSPortal, or by mail with the form for your structure. Card payments add a convenience fee of 2.25% plus a small per-transaction charge. Regular processing time isn’t published and depends on volume. Texas Express moves a filing ahead: $50 per document for 2 to 3 business days, $500 for the next business day, or $750 for the same day; the last two need the filing in by 12:00 p.m.. Unsure the form is right? The office will pre-clear it for $50.
5. Order a certificate if your bank wants one. Texas calls its good-standing certificate a Certificate of Fact (Status) ($15). Order it on SOSPortal.
6. File an assumed name certificate if you use another name. A sole proprietor or general partnership files with the county clerk in each county where it keeps an office, or in every county where it does business if it has none. That copy must be notarized, and each county sets its own fee. An LLC, corporation or limited partnership files Form 503 with the Texas Secretary of State ($25), with no notary and no county filing. The certificate runs for the term you state, up to 10 years. A change of name, address or structure means a new certificate within 60 days. It gives you no exclusive right to the name; the name filings FAQs explain.
7. Calendar the first Comptroller filing. An LLC, corporation or limited partnership is subject to franchise tax from its Secretary of State registration date, and its first report, or just the Public Information Report (Form 05-102), is due May 15 of the year after the year the entity was formed. The Comptroller opens the account from the Secretary of State’s records and mails a letter with your taxpayer number and Webfile number, which you need in order to file. Get your tax IDs covers that letter, the sales tax permit and employer accounts; Stay compliant has the yearly dates.

By structure

LLC

File Certificate of Formation (Form 205) ($300). The certificate has to say whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed. The company agreement stays at its principal office, not with the state. Every LLC is subject to franchise tax, and a single-member LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship still files: at or below the $2,650,000 threshold it owes nothing but still files the Public Information Report (Form 05-102).

Corporation

File Certificate of Formation (Form 201) ($300). A for-profit corporation needs at least one director, one president and one secretary, who can all be the same person. “S corp” is a federal tax election, not a state filing, made with the IRS on Form 2553 after you form. Bylaws aren’t filed with the state. Texas has no corporate income tax; a corporation pays the franchise tax on its margin instead.

Nonprofit

File Certificate of Formation (Form 202) ($25). A nonprofit corporation needs at least 3 directors plus a president and a secretary, and those two offices can’t be held by the same person. Forming it doesn’t make it tax-exempt: 501(c)(3) status is an application to the IRS, and state exemption is a separate application to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts for exemption from franchise tax and from sales tax on purchases for its exempt purpose. Until the Comptroller grants it, the nonprofit corporation files the yearly franchise tax report and Public Information Report (Form 05-102) like any other corporation. With the Secretary of State, a nonprofit files a periodic report not more than once every four years, when the Secretary of State asks for it ($5) instead of a yearly report, with 30 days to answer before it forfeits its right to do business.

Partnership

A general partnership needs no state filing: it exists once two or more people carry on a business for profit, and it files an assumed name certificate with the county clerk if it operates under a name other than the partners’ surnames. A limited partnership files Certificate of Formation (Form 207) ($750). A limited liability partnership is an optional registration by an existing partnership; registering costs $200 per general partner, and the LLP then files an annual report with the Secretary of State by June 1 each year after the year it registered, again $200 per general partner. Limited partnerships and LLPs are subject to franchise tax; a general partnership owned directly by individuals is not. A limited partnership that isn’t subject to franchise tax files a periodic report with the Secretary of State when asked, at most once every four years.

Sole proprietorship

No formation filing. If you don’t form another entity, you’re a sole proprietor automatically. A business name other than your surname means an assumed name certificate with the county clerk, notarized, in each county where you keep an office. A sole proprietor doesn’t file franchise tax, but may still need a sales tax permit and licenses for the activity.

Formed in another state

An LLC or corporation formed elsewhere registers with the Secretary of State before doing business in Texas, and keeps a Texas registered agent. It files an Application for Registration (Form 304 for an LLC, Form 301 for a corporation) for $750; a nonprofit corporation pays $25. There’s a 90-day grace period after business begins here. After that, the late fee is the registration fee again for each calendar year, or part of one, it did business here unregistered. Once registered, it files the same yearly franchise tax report and information report with the Comptroller as a Texas entity. Forming in another state covers the trade-offs.

What you get back

On SOSPortal you get evidence of processing in real time once the filing is approved. Filing by mail? Include a duplicate copy of the document to get a file-stamped copy back. You’ll need the filed certificate and your Secretary of State file number for the EIN, the bank account and the sales tax permit application. An assumed name certificate filed with the Secretary of State becomes part of its records; a county filing stays with that county clerk.