New York LLC vs Texas LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in New York.
Based in Texas? Read Texas LLC vs New York LLC →
Compare New York 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, $100 more than New York, and then nothing annually: the Public Information Report is free and no franchise tax is due below $2,650,000 of total revenue, though the May 15 filing is still mandatory. New York's $29.50 buys the annualized $9 Biennial Statement and the $25 minimum Form IT-204-LL fee. Texas charges $750 to admit an out-of-state LLC and New York charges $250 the other way, on top of the six weeks of newspaper notices LLC Law 802 imposes on foreign LLCs here.
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| Factor | New York | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $200 | $300 |
| Processing Time | Not published by the state | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | $9 | $0 |
| Annual Report Due | Anniversary month (biennial) | May 15 |
| State Income Tax | Yes | No |
| Anonymous LLC | No | No |
| Publication Requirement | Yes | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $250 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: New York LLC cost and Texas LLC cost.
Business Climate: New York vs Texas
| Factor | New York | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 51.9% (#23 of 51) | 52.5% (#20 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +10.9% YoY (#4 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: New York vs Texas
New York
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
New York charges $200 to form an LLC, while Texas charges $300. New York is $100 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Texas but operate in New York, you must also register as a foreign LLC in New York (a $250 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 $700, versus $200 for simply forming in New York. Note that New York also requires newly formed LLCs to publish a newspaper notice (New York requires publication of the LLC's formation once a week for six weeks in two county-designated newspapers (LLC Law §206)), which adds to the true formation cost. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither New York nor Texas publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork.
Taxes: New York vs Texas
Texas has no personal income tax while New York 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 New York), not where the LLC is registered, so a Texas LLC offers no income-tax savings for a New York-based business. New York LLCs treated as partnerships/with NY-source income owe an annual filing fee of $25-$4,500 based on NY gross income. 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
Neither New York nor Texas offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require 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. Business owners who prioritize privacy typically form a holding company in a state like Wyoming or New Mexico instead. 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.
Annual Maintenance Costs
New York LLCs file a biennial report ($9, due in the anniversary month, every two years), and Texas LLCs file a free annual report (due May 15). If you form in Texas while operating in New York, you maintain filings in both states, Texas's report plus New York's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Texas registered agent roughly $150 per year. That brings ongoing costs of the Texas route to roughly $159 per year, versus about $9 to keep a domestic New York LLC in good standing. There are also recurring state taxes to weigh on each side. New York LLCs treated as partnerships/with NY-source income owe an annual filing fee of $25-$4,500 based on NY gross income. 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 New York's personal income tax. For a typical small business based in New York, none of these usually apply. Registering a Texas LLC to do business back home means $250 in New York foreign-registration fees, on top of Texas's $300 formation fee, while New York's own biennial report runs $9 and is due in the anniversary month, every two years. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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<iframe src="https://www.mystatellc.com/tools/compare-states?embed=1&stateA=NY&stateB=TX" width="100%" height="720" frameborder="0" style="border:0;max-width:900px;display:block;margin:0 auto;" title="New York vs Texas LLC Cost Comparison" loading="lazy"></iframe> <p style="text-align:center;font-size:.8125rem;color:#6b7280">Source: <a href="https://www.mystatellc.com/llc/compare/new-york-llc-vs-texas-llc">MyStateLLC, New York vs Texas LLC Comparison</a></p>
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.