Texas SOS LLC Filing vs. ZenBusiness Texas LLC Filing

Yes. The Texas Secretary of State accepts a Certificate of Formation directly from business owners, and the office encourages electronic filing through its SOSDirect and SOSUpload systems.

Filing with the Texas SOS on your own means running your own name search, completing Form 205, naming a registered agent and tracking the annual franchise tax report with the Comptroller after that. The $300 Texas filing fee applies either way, so the question is how much of that work you want to handle.

Texas charges $300 to file a Certificate of Formation for an LLC.

Paying by card adds a statutory convenience fee of 2.7% of the amount charged, which is easy to miss when budgeting. Paying by check or money order avoids it. If a filing cannot be filed, the state does not charge the card and returns checks.

Optional costs sit on top of that, including expedited service and certificates. There is no annual report fee to the Secretary of State, though the annual franchise tax report goes to the Texas Comptroller.

The total cost is the same. The ZenBusiness Starter package has a $0 service fee, so you pay Texas’s $300 filing fee and nothing more.

Filing with the Texas SOS on your own is not cheaper, because that $300 is a state fee that applies no matter who submits the paperwork. The difference is who prepares the filing, who reviews it before it reaches the state and who keeps track of what comes due afterward.

If you want more handled up front, ZenBusiness Pro is $199 per year plus the $300 Texas filing fee and adds 1-business-day submission, an EIN and an operating agreement template.

Not with the Secretary of State. Texas has no annual report for LLCs, which is unusual among large states and a common point of confusion.

What Texas requires instead is an annual franchise tax report filed with the Texas Comptroller, a separate agency. Most small businesses owe no tax but still have a filing obligation, so the paperwork does not go away just because the bill is zero.

May 15 each year, covering the prior tax year. If May 15 falls on a weekend or holiday, the due date moves to the next business day.

A new LLC files its first report the year after it forms. The Comptroller sets a no-tax-due revenue threshold that it adjusts periodically, and it was $2,650,000 for 2026 and 2027 reports. Businesses under the threshold owe no franchise tax but generally still file an information report.

Deadlines, thresholds and forms are published on the Comptroller’s franchise tax page. Because the rules change, it is worth checking the current year before you file.

The Comptroller assesses a $50 penalty on each report filed after the due date, whether or not any tax is owed.

If tax is owed, a 5% penalty applies when it is paid 1 to 30 days late and 10% after that, and interest starts 61 days after the due date. Continued nonfiling can put the business’s right to transact business in Texas at risk, and the Comptroller publishes a process for reinstating an account.

Electronic filing is the faster route, and the office says it strongly encourages SOSDirect or SOSUpload for that reason. Review time varies with volume.

For filings that cannot wait, the state offers expedited service through Texas Express at $50 per document for standard expedited, $500 for next-day and $750 for same-day, each on top of the filing fee. Same-day and next-day requests have a noon cutoff and are made in person or by email.

That review time applies no matter who submits the filing. Where the paths diverge is how fast the Certificate of Formation reaches the state. Filing yourself, you submit as soon as your paperwork is ready. With ZenBusiness, the Starter package submits in 7 to 10 business days and the Pro and Premium packages submit in 1 business day.

Texas reviews each document against the minimum statutory filing requirements, and a rejection means the filing missed one of them. Common causes include a name that is not distinguishable from one already on file and an incomplete registered agent designation.

The money side is better here than in many states. The Secretary of State does not charge the card, returns checks and refunds cash when a document cannot be filed, so a rejection generally costs time rather than the fee. The office will also pre-clear a draft filing for $50 per instrument if you want it reviewed before submission.

ZenBusiness reviews filings before submitting them and backs the work with a 100% Accuracy Guarantee. If there is an error on our end, our team makes it right.

Yes. A Texas LLC must maintain a registered agent and a registered office address in Texas, and the agent has to consent to the appointment.

You can serve in that role yourself, which means being available at the address during business hours and accepting that the address becomes part of the public record. Using an agent service replaces your address in the registered agent field. Texas also collects a governing person address that is public, so a home-based business may still have a home address on file either way. Registered agent service is available as an add-on with the Starter and Pro packages and is included in ZenBusiness Premium at $399 per year plus the $300 Texas filing fee.

No. ZenBusiness is an independent business formation service with no affiliation with, endorsement from, or sponsorship by the Texas Secretary of State, its Corporations Section, or the State of Texas.

ZenBusiness prepares and submits filings to the state on behalf of its customers. The Secretary of State reviews and approves the filing in either case.

Every option below includes Texas’s $300 filing fee, because the state charges it regardless of who submits the Certificate of Formation.

• Filing with the Texas SOS yourself: $300 total, plus 2.7% if you pay by card.
• ZenBusiness Starter: $0 service fee plus the $300 Texas filing fee. Does not renew.
• ZenBusiness Pro: $199 plus the $300 Texas filing fee. Adds 1-business-day submission, an EIN and an operating agreement template. Renews at $199 per year, without the state fee.
• ZenBusiness Premium: $399 plus the $300 Texas filing fee. Adds registered agent service and advanced compliance protection. Renews at $399 per year, without the state fee.

There is no Secretary of State annual report fee in Texas. The annual franchise tax report goes to the Comptroller, and most small businesses owe no tax on it.