The minimum LLC Cost in Texas is $300, which covers the processing fee for filing your LLC formation document (known as the Certificate of Formation).

Having said that, the total cost of forming a Texas LLC will depend on several factors, including your personal preferences and business needs.

In our How Much Does an LLC Cost in Texas article, we’ve broken down everything you need to know about the different costs associated with launching and maintaining an LLC.

LLC Cost in Texas

In the table below, you can find a summary of the main requirements of forming a Texas limited liability company (LLC) and their associated fees.

                                                         

Requirement	Fee
Certification of Formation	$300
Registered Agent	$0-$130+
Name	$0-$65
Operating Agreement	$0+

Texas LLC Filing Fee ($300)

In Texas, all LLCs are required to submit a Certificate of Formation with the Secretary of State in order to be registered with the state.

If you choose to submit the Certificate of Formation by yourself, you’ll be required to pay one of the following filing fees:

• Domestic Entities: $300
• Foreign Entities: $750

If you choose to use an LLC formation service, the cost will be a little higher as it will include a small service fee in addition to Texas’s state filing fee.

The fees for an LLC formation service can range significantly, but can start from as low as $29, increasing if you decide to purchase any additional offerings.

Note: For more details on the formation process you can check out our Texas LLC Formation guide.

Texas Registered Agent ($0+)

As part of the Certificate of Formation process, you’ll be required to appoint a registered agent. This is a person or entity that you must assign to receive tax, legal, and governmental correspondence on behalf of your Texas LLC.

While you can act as your own registered agent at no cost, it’s often recommended to hire a professional service so you avoid any potential penalties or legal issues caused by non-compliance with state regulations.

Although the exact cost of these professional registered agent (RA) services is unique to each provider, they typically charge around $130+ per year. Most premium LLC formation services also allow new customers to access their services for free throughout the first year.

Alternatively, you can find some of the top recommendations for professional RA services in our Best Registered Agent Services of 2024 article.

Naming Your Texas LLC ($0-$65)

When forming your Texas LLC, you’ll be required to pick a suitable name that’s available to use.

While registering a name in itself has no cost, there are two potential costs to be aware of when naming your LLC.

Reserving Name

If you’ve found an available name for your business but aren’t looking to form an LLC right away, you’ll need to file Form 501 with the Texas Secretary of State in order to safeguard it for later. This costs $40 and will reserve your business’s name for up to 120 days.

At least 30 days before the end of this 120-day period, you’ll need to decide whether to renew this reservation form (and pay another $40 filing fee) or proceed to create your LLC.

Note: Before registering a business name for your Texas LLC, you must first check it’s unique by doing a business entity name search. You can do this via a Taxable Entity Search or through SOSDirect — the latter will cost $1 for each search you make.

When choosing a name for your LLC, it’s important to select one that corresponds to an available domain. This is because a matching domain ensures consistency between your LLC’s name and its online presence, which helps to strengthen its brand recognition and credibility.

Doing Business As (DBA) Name

If you want to operate your Texas business under a name other than the one it’s legally registered as, you’ll need to obtain a Doing Business As (DBA) name by filing Form 503 with the Secretary of State.

Filing this form costs $25 for each DBA name you want to use — which if accepted — will be valid for 10 years before needing to be filed again.

Texas LLC Operating Agreement ($0+)

While not mandatory, it’s good practice for LLCs to have an operating agreement (or “company agreement” as it’s known in Texas).

This document defines the roles and responsibilities of the members or managers in your LLC and will help prevent and solve any business disputes that may arise later on.

While you can opt to hire an online service or business attorney to draft this document for you (which typically costs at least a few hundred dollars), it’s actually quite straightforward to do it yourself at no extra cost.

It’s also important to note that this doesn’t actually need to be filed with the Texas Secretary of State — it’s purely an internal document.

Additional Texas LLC Formation Costs

On top of the more common fees outlined above, there are a number of potential additional formation costs that LLCs in Texas may encounter depending on their circumstances.

We’ve summarized some of these additional costs below:

Expedited Texas LLC Filing

The Office of the Texas Secretary of State typically processes documents within five to seven business days of receipt.

If you want your LLC’s Certificate of Formation to be processed more quickly than this, you can pay an additional $25 fee for expedited filing. In this case, the Office will aim to process it by the end of the first business day after they receive it.

Texas Professional Licenses

In Texas, LLCs may need to obtain certain professional licenses if they plan to operate in a regulated field like medicine, law, or accounting.

You’ll need to refer to the Texas professional board relevant to your industry for more information on the cost of these licenses, though they generally range from anywhere between $50 and several hundred dollars.

Local Business Licenses

In many towns and municipalities in Texas, LLCs are required to obtain a local Certificate of Occupancy in order to operate legally.

The cost of this local business license typically varies between $100 and $500 depending on the location, though you’ll need to contact your local county clerk’s office for a specific figure using the TML City Officials Directory.

Certificate of Fact

A certificate of status is a document often required to open a business bank account, or by lenders in order to check that your LLC is properly registered and legally authorized to conduct business with the state.

If you decide to request one for your Texas LLC, you’ll need to pay a $15 fee.

Certified Copies of Business Documents

If you want to obtain certified copies of your Texas Certificate of Formation it will cost $15, plus $1 per page, and takes 2 days to process with additional time for mailing.

You can also speed up the processing time by paying an additional $10 for expedited filing (and a total cost of $25).

Cost to Maintain an LLC in Texas

In addition to the cost of forming an LLC in Texas, there are also several ongoing costs you’ll be responsible for paying each year.

We’ve outlined these recurring costs associated with maintaining a Texas LLC below.

Annual Franchise Tax Report

Businesses in Texas earning more than $2.47 million in total annual revenue will be required to pay franchise tax in return for the privilege of being able to operate within this state.

Regardless of whether your LLC is eligible to pay this tax, it will be required to submit a Franchise Tax Report to the Texas Secretary of State each year.

While there are no filing fees associated with submitting a No Tax Due Report (Form 05-163), your LLC will need to pay a $50 penalty if it submits this document after the May 15 due date.

Public Information Report

All LLCs registered in Texas will also be required to submit a report containing information on its ownership, management, and business activities called the Public Information Report (Form 05-102) by May 15 each year.

Since it’s often combined with the Annual Franchise Tax report and submitted together online through WebFile, failing to file the Public Information Report (PIR) by the deadline will also incur a $50 late fee.

Note: Your first PIR does not need to be filed until the year after your LLC was formed.

Registered Agent Maintenance

If you decide to take advantage of a professional registered agent in order to handle your legal documents, you’ll be required to pay an annual fee in return for their services. This fee commonly ranges between $35 and $300 depending on the provider and features you select.

While you’re not required to use a professional registered agent service, it’s highly recommended for most small business owners.

Taxes

In addition to the federal taxes your LLC is required to pay regardless of the state it’s based in, there are a variety of state-specific taxes in Texas you need to be aware of, including:

• Sales tax
• Employment taxes
• Business privilege taxes
• Property taxes

Additionally, there are various local taxes your LLC may need to pay depending on the municipality or county it’s based in, such as:

• Sales and use taxes
• Property tax

Texas vs Other States

Overall, Texas represents a good option for business owners looking to form an LLC. While its initial filing fee of $300 is on the steeper end of the scale when compared to many other states, its lack of annual fees helps to balance this out.

By comparison, if you decided to form your LLC in California you’d be required to pay an $70 initial filing fee as well as an $20 biennial fee, and potentially an annual fee of $800 (if you generate more than $250,000 in total income). All of this can make Texas a much cheaper alternative in the long run.

Ultimately, the best state to form your LLC will be one in which you plan to primarily operate your business from. This makes it far easier to stay legally compliant on a number of levels, including taxation, licensing, and filing requirements, as you’ll only need to deal with one state’s set of rules.