The Real Cost of a Texas LLC — What You Pay and When

The unavoidable cost to start a Texas LLC is the state filing fee for the Certificate of Formation (Form 205), paid to the Secretary of State when you submit. The exact amount is on the receipt card and on the SOS fee schedule. One wrinkle to know: filing online through SOSDirect adds a small state convenience surcharge on top of the base fee, so the online total runs slightly higher than the mail figure. That's a state charge, not a markup — the amount you're charged is the amount displayed.

What the formation fee does and doesn't include

The filing fee covers the state's processing of your Certificate of Formation, which includes designating your registered agent. It does not include:

• An EIN — that's free directly from the IRS
• An operating agreement — you draft this yourself or with counsel; it isn't filed
• A business license or permit — those are separate and depend on your industry and locality
• Registered agent service, if you hire a commercial agent rather than serving yourself

Formation service vs. filing it yourself

You can file the Certificate of Formation directly with the state and pay only the state fee. What a formation service adds is the preparation, submission, and (with us) bundled registered agent service, plus someone tracking your first franchise deadline. Whether that's worth it depends on how much you value not deciphering SOSDirect and not risking a rejection over a formatting mistake.

Beyond the mandatory filing fee, a few optional line items come up during formation. None are required, but each solves a specific problem.

Expedited processing

Texas offers expedited handling for a per-document surcharge, which moves your filing ahead of the standard queue. If you have a lease to sign, a bank appointment, or a contract deadline, it can be worth it; if you have time, standard processing costs nothing extra. The receipt card shows the expedite amount.

Name reservation

If you want to lock your name before you're ready to file, a 120-day name reservation through SOSDirect costs a small fee. Most owners skip it and just file when ready, but it's useful if you're still finalizing plans and worried about the name being taken.

Assumed name (DBA)

If you'll operate under a name other than your LLC's legal name, registering an assumed name on Form 503 carries its own fee. An entity's Texas assumed-name certificate can run up to ten years. Only needed if you're trading under a different name.

Certified copies and certificates of status

Banks, lenders, or other states sometimes ask for a certified copy of your Certificate of Formation or a certificate of status (good standing). Each carries a small state fee. You typically don't need these at formation — order them when a specific request comes up.

Here's the good news for most small Texas LLCs: your recurring state cost is often nothing. Texas doesn't charge a Secretary of State annual report fee for LLCs, and the franchise tax has a generous no-tax-due threshold.

Franchise tax and the Public Information Report

Each year by May 15, your LLC files with the Comptroller: the franchise tax report and the Public Information Report (Form 05-102). Texas sets a no-tax-due revenue threshold — $2.65 million for the 2026 report year — and LLCs under it owe zero franchise tax. Most small businesses fall well below it. So the recurring "cost" for a typical small LLC is the effort of filing on time, not a dollar figure. The report is still mandatory even when no tax is owed. Details are on the Comptroller's franchise tax page.

What happens if you skip it

Missing the May 15 filing isn't free. The Comptroller can forfeit the company's right to transact business, and getting reinstated means clearing the delinquency — which turns a zero-dollar obligation into a real cost plus hassle. This is the one recurring task worth never missing.

Registered agent service

If you hire a commercial registered agent instead of serving yourself, that's an annual cost. Serving as your own agent is free but puts your address on the public record and ties you to being available during business hours. The receipt card shows our registered agent pricing.

A few costs sit outside the formation and franchise line items but are real parts of running a compliant Texas LLC.

Sales-and-use tax permit and collection

If you sell taxable goods or services, you register for a sales-and-use tax permit with the Comptroller (the permit itself is free) and then collect and remit sales tax. That's not a formation cost, but it's an ongoing operational obligation with its own filing rhythm.

Licenses and permits

Texas has no general business license, but your specific trade or profession may require state licensure, and your city or county may require local permits. These vary widely by industry and location and renew on their own cycles.

Amendments

If you later change your LLC's name, management structure, or other charter details, you file an amendment (Form 424) with the SOS for a fee. Ordinary changes to your registered agent use the separate change-of-agent filing.

Professional help

An operating agreement drafted by an attorney, a CPA to handle taxes or an S-corp election analysis, or legal advice on foreign qualification — these aren't required to form the LLC, but they're common real-world costs as the business grows.

We keep this simple: the fees you see on the receipt card are the fees you're charged, pulled from current state data. When Texas changes a fee, the card reflects it. We don't pad the state's numbers or bury surcharges. The online convenience charge that Texas adds for SOSDirect filings is a state charge shown as such, not a hidden markup.

Our own service pricing — formation and registered agent — is separate from and clearly distinguished from the state's fees, so you always know which dollars go to Austin and which go to us. If you'd rather file yourself and pay only the state, you can; what you'd be buying from a service is the preparation, the submission, the bundled agent service, and the deadline tracking that keeps your first franchise filing from slipping.