Wisconsin LLC vs Texas LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Wisconsin.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Texas charges $300 for a Certificate of Formation, $170 more than Wisconsin's $130 online filing, and then nothing recurring, because the Public Information Report carries no fee at all against Wisconsin's $25 a year. The report is still mandatory, and it goes to the Comptroller rather than the Secretary of State. Total revenue at or below $2,650,000 means no franchise tax is due, but the report is required by May 15 anyway, and skipping it leads to tax forfeiture and a $75 reinstatement. Card payments add 2.7 percent, and Wisconsin registration is $100.
Based in Texas? Read Texas LLC vs Wisconsin LLC →
Compare Wisconsin 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 23, 2026
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| Factor | Wisconsin | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $130 | $300 |
| Processing Time | Instant on receipt (online) | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | $25 | $0 |
| Annual Report Due | Anniversary quarter | May 15 |
| State Income Tax | Yes | No |
| Anonymous LLC | No | No |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $100 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Wisconsin LLC cost and Texas LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Wisconsin anonymous LLC guide and Texas anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: Wisconsin vs Texas
| Factor | Wisconsin | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 52.4% (#21 of 51) | 52.5% (#20 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +20% YoY (#25 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: Wisconsin vs Texas
Wisconsin
Texas
A figure shown as "from" is the least the state can charge, not a price. Tennessee's report is $300 for up to six members and $50 for each member above six, its franchise tax is the greater of $100 or 0.25% of Tennessee net worth, Wyoming's report is the greater of $60 or $.0002 per dollar of in-state assets, Kentucky's entity tax is $175 up to $3 million of gross receipts and graduated above it, and New York's annual filing fee is graduated on New York source gross income. A total that contains one of those is shown as "from" for the same reason. 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. 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
Wisconsin charges $130 to form an LLC, while Texas charges $300. Wisconsin is $170 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Texas but operate in Wisconsin, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Wisconsin (a $100 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 $550, versus $130 for simply forming in Wisconsin. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Wisconsin publishes a standard turnaround (instant on receipt, online), while Texas publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.
Taxes: Wisconsin vs Texas
Texas has no personal income tax while Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin), not where the LLC is registered, so a Texas LLC offers no income-tax savings for a Wisconsin-based business. 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 Wisconsin 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
Wisconsin LLCs file an annual report ($25, due in the anniversary quarter), and Texas LLCs file a free annual report (due May 15). If you form in Texas while operating in Wisconsin, you maintain filings in both states, Texas's report plus Wisconsin's equivalent for your foreign registration, 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 $175 a year, versus about $25 to keep a domestic Wisconsin LLC in good standing. The tax 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.
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 Wisconsin's personal income tax. For a typical small business based in Wisconsin, none of these usually apply. Registering a Texas LLC to do business back home means $100 in Wisconsin foreign-registration fees, on top of Texas's $300 formation fee, while Wisconsin's own annual report runs $25 a year and is due in the anniversary quarter. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources
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.
- dfi.wi.gov/Pages/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/GeneralInformation.aspxWisconsin Department of Financial Institutions: business entity filings
- dfi.wi.gov/Pages/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/Fees.aspxWisconsin LLC filing fees
- 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
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.