Delaware LLC vs Texas LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Delaware.
Based in Texas? Read Texas LLC vs Delaware LLC →
Compare Delaware LLC vs Texas LLC on filing fees, taxes, privacy laws, and annual costs. Find out which state is actually better for your business.
By Edmond Hui · Last updated: September 13, 2026
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Texas costs $300 to form, $190 more than Delaware, and then nothing recurring, because the Public Information Report carries no fee. It is still mandatory. Total revenue at or below $2,650,000 means no franchise tax due on a 2026 report, yet the Comptroller still expects that report by May 15, and skipping it starts the path to tax forfeiture and a $75 reinstatement. Texas levies no personal income tax; Delaware does, and adds its $400 entity tax. A Texas LLC operated from Delaware pays $200 to register here.
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| Factor | Delaware | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $110 | $300 |
| Processing Time | Not published by the state | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | None ($400/yr entity tax instead) | $0 |
| Annual Report Due | None required | May 15 |
| State Income Tax | Yes | No |
| Anonymous LLC | Yes | No |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $200 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Delaware LLC cost and Texas LLC cost.
Business Climate: Delaware vs Texas
| Factor | Delaware | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 48.1% (#37 of 51) | 52.5% (#20 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +2.5% YoY (#33 of 51 by volume) | +13.7% YoY (#3 of 51 by volume) |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)
Compare LLC Costs: Delaware vs Texas
Delaware
Texas
Costs include every mandatory state charge: the filing fee, the report fee (annualised where a state files biennially), any state entity-level tax shown in its own row above, a one-time publication cost where the state publishes a rate for it, and any one-time registration charge a state requires before the LLC may trade. Two exclusions follow from that wording. Arizona and Nebraska require publication and publish no rate, so no newspaper cost is carried for either and their totals are not the whole cost. Alaska's $50 annual state business licence is a separate charge from the Secretary of State fees and is not carried here either. Annualising makes the 1, 3 and 5 year rows a cost of ownership rather than a payment schedule: a biennial state charges its whole report fee in the years it falls due and nothing in between. Entity-level taxes that only apply after a corporate election, or above an owner or income threshold, are excluded and flagged on the state's own cost page. New York's publication cost is carried at a $250 floor, roughly $200 of newspaper cost in a low-cost county plus the $50 Certificate of Publication fee. No county-clerk-designated New York City newspaper publishes a rate card, so the four-figure NYC estimates in wide circulation cannot be traced to a primary source and are not asserted here; budget for materially more than the floor if you file in a NYC county. Montana's annual report is free when filed by April 15 and $35 after, a waiver that applies to reports filed between January 1 and April 15. Every fee was verified against the state's own fee schedule, statute, or revenue authority on 29 July 2026. Excludes registered agent and legal fees. For informational purposes only, not legal or tax advice.
Filing Fees & Formation Costs
Delaware charges $110 to form an LLC, while Texas charges $300. Delaware is $190 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Texas but operate in Delaware, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Delaware (a $200 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Texas (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Texas route at roughly $650, versus $110 for simply forming in Delaware. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither Delaware nor Texas publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork.
Taxes: Delaware vs Texas
Texas has no personal income tax while Delaware does, but forming your LLC in Texas won't change that. LLC profits pass through to you and are taxed where you live and operate (in Delaware), not where the LLC is registered, so a Texas LLC offers no income-tax savings for a Delaware-based business. Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required). Texas imposes a franchise tax; LLCs under the no-tax-due threshold ($2,650,000 total revenue for 2026-27 reports) owe $0 but must still file an annual Public Information Report.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Delaware, your home state, actually offers more formation privacy than Texas: Delaware allows anonymous LLC formation, while Texas requires owner or manager information on public filings. The Certificate of Formation (Form 205) must name at least one governing person (member or manager), a public record; the annual Public Information Report also discloses management. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and for most small businesses the practical difference in asset protection between the two is minimal. From a privacy standpoint there's no reason for a Delaware-based business to form in Texas.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Delaware LLCs file no annual report at all, and Texas LLCs file a free annual report (due May 15). If you form in Texas while operating in Delaware, you maintain filings in both states, Texas's report, though Delaware asks for nothing on the foreign-registration side, and pay a Texas registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Texas route to roughly $150 a year, versus about $400 to keep a domestic Delaware LLC in good standing. The taxes inside those totals: Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required). Texas imposes a franchise tax; LLCs under the no-tax-due threshold ($2,650,000 total revenue for 2026-27 reports) owe $0 but must still file an annual Public Information Report.
When Texas Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Texas makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in Texas, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Texas in the near future, which would also move you out of Delaware's personal income tax. For a typical small business based in Delaware, none of these usually apply. Registering a Texas LLC to do business back home means $200 in Delaware foreign-registration fees, on top of Texas's $300 formation fee, while Delaware itself never asks for an annual report at all. Delaware already allows anonymous formation, so the privacy argument for Texas doesn't apply to a Delaware-based owner. Trading Delaware's no-annual-report status for Texas's filing calendar is a step backwards for most owners. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.