Texas LLC Cost (2026)

How much does it cost to form an LLC in Texas?

Texas charges $300 to file a Certificate of Formation for an LLC (Form 205), one of the highest flat formation fees in the country, and adds a statutory 2.7% convenience fee on credit card payments. There is no fee for the annual Public Information Report, but it is filed with the Comptroller rather than the Secretary of State and is still required at $0 tax: the no-tax-due threshold for 2026 reports is $2,650,000 of total revenue, and the Comptroller tells below-threshold filers to "simply file your 2026 Public Information Report or Ownership Report" by May 15. Certificates of fact (including existence or status) are $15, the long-form certificate of existence is $25, certified copies are $1 per page plus $15 per certificate, and a 120-day name reservation is $40. Expedited service is now tiered: $50 standard, $500 next-day, or $750 same-day, per document.

Which fees does a Texas LLC pay, and how often?

Paying by credit card adds a statutory convenience fee of 2.7% of the amount charged (about $8.10 on a $300 filing); check, money order, and cash carry no surcharge.

Franchise Tax: No tax is due if annualized total revenue is at or below the no-tax-due threshold, which is $2,650,000 for reports due in 2026 and 2027. Above the threshold the tax is computed on margin. The report is due May 15 each year.

The Secretary of State answers the question directly: "The requirement that an existing unincorporated business intending to incorporate without a change in its name publish its intent to incorporate in the local newspaper for four consecutive weeks was repealed in 2003." Texas has required no formation publication since. The repealed duty reached incorporation, never LLC formation.

Registered agent is listed separately because it is a commercial service, not a state charge. Commercial registered-agent services, not a state charge. Range and $125 midpoint match the assumption used by /tools/llc-true-cost. Most states let you serve as your own registered agent at no cost if you have a physical in-state address. Run your own numbers in the true-cost calculator. For what formation services charge on top of these state fees, see the best LLC services in Texas.

Next steps for an LLC in Texas

• How to start an LLC in Texas
• Texas LLC guide: requirements and fees
• Texas LLC annual report requirements

What does a Texas LLC cost over five years?

State charges only in the first column; the second adds a registered-agent service at the $125/yr market midpoint.

First filing timing: A new LLC's first report is due May 15 of the year after it was formed or began doing business in Texas.

Is Texas expensive compared with other states?

Texas ranks 41st cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost , $67.84 above the $232.16 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 11th.

A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you live and operate in Texas. Doing business here with an out-of-state LLC generally means registering it as a foreign LLC in Texas anyway. Paying both states. See foreign qualification in Texas before forming elsewhere to save on fees.

When is the Texas filing deadline, and what happens if you miss it?

The Comptroller says there is no $50 penalty for filing a Public Information Report late. A franchise tax report filed late carries a $50 penalty, even if no tax is due. Tax paid 1 to 30 days late carries a 5% penalty, and tax paid more than 30 days late carries a 10% penalty. An LLC can lose its right to transact business in Texas for a missing Public Information Report alone, even when it owes no tax.

An LLC that does not file or pay gets a notice from the Comptroller, and can then lose its right to transact business in Texas. If the problem is not fixed, the Texas Secretary of State can forfeit the LLC's certificate or registration. To come back after the Secretary of State has forfeited the certificate, the LLC files its missing reports, pays what it owes, gets a tax clearance letter from the Comptroller (requested through Webfile or on Form 05-391), and files Form 801 with the Secretary of State with a $75 fee. Form 811 is for a business the Secretary of State terminated for a reason other than franchise tax, such as not keeping a registered agent, and it costs $75 after an involuntary termination.

Full Texas annual report filing guide · Deadline calculator

What cost traps are specific to Texas?

Where do these numbers come from?