Texas LLC vs Delaware LLC (2026)
A Texas LLC costs $300 in year one; a Delaware LLC costs $510.
Written for owners based in Texas.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Delaware files no annual report, but that is not the same as owing nothing: a flat $400 Annual LLC Tax falls due each year with no proration, putting the first-year minimum at $510 against Texas's $300. Texas charges no minimum recurring amount, though the Public Information Report still goes to the Comptroller. Add $750 to register the Delaware LLC back into Texas. Its one genuine draw is privacy, since Delaware permits an anonymous LLC.
Based in Delaware? Read Delaware LLC vs Texas LLC →
Full fee breakdown for either state: Texas LLC cost and Delaware LLC cost.
By Edmond Hui · Last updated: October 13, 2026
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| Factor | Texas | Delaware |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $300 | $110 |
| Processing Time | Not published by the state | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | $0 | None ($400/yr entity tax instead) |
| Annual Report Due | May 15 | None required |
| State Income Tax | No | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | No | Yes |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $750 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Owner privacy options for either state: Texas anonymous LLC guide and Delaware anonymous LLC guide.
Who you file with in Texas and Delaware, and when
| Factor | Texas | Delaware |
|---|---|---|
| Forms the LLC | Texas Secretary of State | Delaware Division of Corporations |
| Takes the periodic report | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts | No annual report |
| Reports and state taxes, first due dates for an LLC formed June 15, 2027 |
|
|
| If the report is late | What filing late costs depends on which filing is late and how late it is, and a missed report has further consequences. | No annual report. A late Annual LLC Tax payment carries its own penalty. |
| State charges over five years | $300 ($300 in year one plus $0 across years two to five) | $2,110 ($510 in year one plus $1,600 across years two to five) |
Over five years, the state charges we total come to $300 for a Texas LLC and $2,110 for a Delaware LLC, a difference of $1,810. Both totals are for an LLC formed and run in the same state, and leave out foreign registration and any tax that applies only above a revenue or owner threshold or after a tax election.
The dates come from the same verified rules as our annual report deadline tool, applied to a sample formation date as of November 1, 2026, the day this page was built. Where a rule cannot name a date, the row says who to ask instead.
Business Climate: Texas vs Delaware
| Factor | Texas | Delaware |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 52.5% (#20 of 51) | 48.1% (#37 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Sep) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +13.6% YoY (#3 of 51 by volume) | +4.1% YoY (#33 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: Texas vs Delaware
Texas
Delaware
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. 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. Every fee was verified against the state's own fee schedule, statute, or revenue authority between 29 July 2026 and 29 October 2026. Excludes registered agent and legal fees. How every state's total is built is on the 50-state cost comparison tool. For informational purposes only, not legal or tax advice.
Filing Fees & Formation Costs
Texas charges $300 to form an LLC, while Delaware charges $110. Delaware is $190 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Delaware but operate in Texas, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Texas (a $750 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Delaware (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Delaware route at roughly $1,010, versus $300 for simply forming in Texas. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither Texas nor Delaware publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork.
Taxes: Texas vs Delaware
Texas has no personal income tax, while Delaware taxes individual income. Since pass-through LLC profits are taxed where you live and operate, a Texas-based owner keeps Texas's no-income-tax benefit either way. Forming in Delaware adds no tax advantage. 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. Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required).
Privacy & Asset Protection
Delaware allows anonymous LLC formation. Member and manager names don't appear on routine public filings. Delaware's Certificate of Formation requires no member or manager names, and LLCs file no annual report, so ownership never appears on a public filing. Texas doesn't offer that same privacy. 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. A charging order is a court order that directs an LLC to pay a member's distributions to a creditor who has won a judgment against that member. Texas's LLC act makes the charging order the exclusive remedy, and says so for single-member LLCs specifically. Delaware's LLC act makes the charging order the exclusive remedy, and says so for single-member LLCs specifically. "Exclusive remedy" means the act names the charging order as the only way a member's creditor can collect from that member's interest in the LLC. We are reporting what each section says, not what a court would do with your facts. One important caveat: if you register your Delaware LLC as a foreign LLC in Texas, that Texas registration is itself a public record, which can undercut much of the privacy benefit for a business that operates in Texas.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Texas LLCs file a free annual report (due May 15), and Delaware LLCs file no annual report at all. If you form in Delaware while operating in Texas, you maintain filings in both states, Delaware asks for no report, but Texas still wants its equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Delaware registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Delaware route to roughly $550 a year, versus no fixed yearly state fee to keep a domestic Texas LLC in good standing, before Texas's Franchise Tax, which depends on the size of the business. The taxes inside those totals: 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. Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required).
When Delaware Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Delaware makes sense in a few specific situations: you need anonymous ownership. Texas puts owner or manager information on public filings and Delaware doesn't (usually via a holding company, since operating in Texas still requires a public foreign registration there), you're raising venture capital or institutional investment. Many investors specifically prefer or require Delaware entities, your business genuinely operates in Delaware, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Delaware in the near future and accept taking on Delaware's personal income tax, which Texas doesn't levy. For a typical small business based in Texas, none of these usually apply. Registering a Delaware LLC to do business back home means $750 in Texas foreign-registration fees, on top of Delaware's $110 formation fee, while Texas's own annual report stays free to file and is due May 15. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using a formation service? We compare the 4 formation services that pay us a commission, on three-year service cost, BBB rating and Trustpilot score.
Compare LLC formation services →Or by state: Best LLC services in Texas, Best LLC services in Delaware
Our affiliate partner Northwest Registered Agent files your LLC formation paperwork for $39 plus the state fee, and that price includes a year of registered agent service. After year one, registered agent service is $125/yr. Registered agent customers are enrolled by default in Northwest's report filing service, which charges your saved payment method $100 plus state fees each time it files for you and which you can cancel.
Form your LLC with Northwest ($39 + state fee) →Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no cost to you. MyStateLLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
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More for Texas and Delaware LLCs
Texas
Sources
6 documents
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.
- Texas statute: Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 101.112 (charging orders)
- Delaware statute: 6 Del. C. § 18-703 (charging orders)
- sos.state.tx.us/corp/index.shtmlTexas Secretary of State: business entity filings
- direct.sos.state.tx.us/help/help-corp.asp?pg=feeTexas LLC filing fees
- corp.delaware.govDelaware Division of Corporations: business entity filings
- corpfiles.delaware.gov/AugustFee2024.pdfDelaware LLC filing fees
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.