Best LLC Formation Services in Texas

Texas launched Texas Express on July 14, 2026. The state now sells speed. The Secretary of State expedites many business documents through it. Standard expedited costs $50 a document and takes two to three business days. Next business day costs $500, and same day costs $750, both on a noon cutoff. Add the $300 filing fee and the state's own bill comes to $350, $800 or $1,050.

Read the delivery rules before you count on the fast tiers. Same day and next day take a document three ways, by email to Texas Express, in person, or by courier, at the Austin office on 400 W. 15th Street. Standard expedited takes mail, in person or courier delivery, with a cover letter carrying your email, phone number and the request. None attaches to an online SOSDirect filing. That is the route a formation service normally uses, so a rush upgrade you buy from a provider speeds its own paperwork rather than the state's queue. Ask whether it will courier the document instead.

Texas currently says two different things about what qualifies. The Secretary of State's July 14 announcement says same day and next day processing is available for all types of business filings. The Filing Options page still limits those two tiers to select filings. A certificate of formation is a business organization document on either reading, so a new LLC is covered whichever page you trust. Budget for preclearance as well. The state will review a draft instrument for $50 before you file it, and it strongly encourages preclearance ahead of any same day or next day filing.

Paying the state by card costs 2.7% more. The Secretary of State adds that convenience fee to every card payment. So a $300 certificate of formation comes to $308.10 on a card. Checks and money orders avoid it.

Texas allows Series LLCs. So do around twenty other states, so this is not the rarity it once was. A Series LLC holds separate divisions inside one parent company. Each one carries its own liability. Investors use them to hold several properties without a separate LLC for each. Texas splits them in two under BOC 101.601. A protected series lives only in your company agreement. A registered series is filed with the state. Only the second gets its own certificate of good standing. That is the one a lender asks for. The parent filing fee is still $300.

Registering an out of state LLC in Texas costs $750 on the Secretary of State fee schedule. Forming here is cheaper. That is two and a half times the $300 fee a Texas LLC pays. Trade in Texas for more than ninety days before you register and the state adds a late fee for every year you went unregistered.

Texas does not offer anonymous LLCs. The field that gets you is the governing authority block. Form 205 asks for the name and address of each initial manager. No managers? Then it wants every initial member. BOC 3.010 is where that comes from. Naming a service as your organizer will not help. The organizer is a separate line on the same form. If privacy is the priority, founders form a holding LLC in a state that allows it. Then they register that into Texas as a foreign entity. Doing so brings back the $750.

Every Texas LLC must file a Public Information Report by May 15. It is due even in a year you owe no tax. Since the 2024 report year, an LLC under the no tax due threshold files no franchise tax report at all. The PIR is still due. Skip it and the LLC can forfeit its right to do business, which costs it the right to sue or defend in a Texas court and makes each member personally liable for certain company debts.

1. Get an EIN from the IRS, free and same day. You need it to open a bank account, hire staff, and file federal taxes. Apply at irs.gov and pay nothing.
2. Appoint a registered agent with a physical Texas address. You may serve as your own agent if you live in Texas and have a street address there. An officer, owner or employee may serve too. The LLC itself may not. A P.O. box does not qualify, and most services cover the first year. Compare the options in our Texas registered agent guide.
3. Apply for a Texas sales tax permit if you sell taxable goods or services. The state rate is 6.25%. Local jurisdictions add up to 2% more, so the combined rate tops out at 8.25%. The permit is free from the Texas Comptroller.
4. File your Public Information Report by May 15 every year. An LLC under the $2,650,000 no tax due threshold owes no franchise tax. It files no franchise tax report either. The PIR is still required, and it carries no fee. A late report costs $50.
5. Draft an operating agreement. Texas does not require one. Without it you have no written record of who owns what, how profits split, or who decides. Banks and investors ask for it.
6. Open a dedicated business bank account. This separates your money from the company's. It protects the liability shield the LLC exists to give you.

• Texas Express expedite fees, $50, $500 or $750 per document - Standard expedited takes two to three days. Next business day and same day both need the filing in hand by noon, and all three tiers take the document by courier as well as in person. Couriers count for all three.
• Preclearance, $50 per instrument - The state reviews a draft before you file it and strongly encourages it ahead of any same day or next day request. It is charged separately.
• Card convenience fee of 2.7% - A $300 filing paid by card costs $308.10. The fee applies to expedite fees too.
• Foreign LLC registration, $750 - Bringing an existing out of state LLC into Texas costs more than twice the domestic filing fee.
• Reinstatement after tax forfeiture, $75 - That is the filing fee alone. Every delinquent report, penalty and interest still has to be paid.
• Name reservation, $40 - It is optional, and it holds your name for 120 days.
• Late report penalty, $50 - It applies to each late report, even when no tax is owed.
• Change of registered agent, $15 - Switching agents later means a Form 401 filing. An agent's own resignation is free.