Texas LLC formation · SOSPortal
Texas Secretary of State LLC Filing on SOSPortal
SOSPortal replaced SOSDirect as the Texas Secretary of State's online filing system on September 29, 2026. Guides that still say SOSDirect describe the old system; the steps below are the current one.
A Texas LLC is created by filing a Certificate of Formation (Form 205) with the Texas Secretary of State, and since September 2026 the online route is SOSPortal. This page goes through the portal account, the certificate screen by screen, the reasons filings bounce and what comes after approval. Or we prepare the certificate and file it on SOSPortal for you.
Updated November 1, 2026. Facts checked October 2026.
Have it filed on SOSPortal for you
One short application. We check the name, draft the Certificate of Formation and submit it through SOSPortal.
Form Your Texas LLCWhat SOSPortal Is
SOSPortal is the online filing system of the Texas Secretary of State, Business and Commercial Section. It is where a Texas limited liability company's Certificate of Formation is filed, where the state's business records are searched, and where the file-stamped certificate comes back. It took over from SOSDirect on September 29, 2026; the old system's name still appears across the web, and the Form 205 instructions page it linked to has been taken down.
Form 205 itself was revised in September 2026. The current version adds an initial mailing address for franchise tax correspondence and an attestation that the company name does not imply a government affiliation. On SOSPortal the certificate is built from the answers you type, so the portal asks both; a paper filing on an older copy of the form can be returned.
We prepare Texas certificate of formation filings and submit them through SOSPortal for customers, the way an accountant or attorney would. Texas's fee is the same whether you file on SOSPortal yourself or we file for you; this page explains both routes so you can pick one.
- Filing portal
- SOSPortal (formerly SOSDirect)
- Run by
- Texas Secretary of State, Business and Commercial Section
- Document filed
- Certificate of Formation
- State fee
- $300
- State expedite tiers
- Expedited, next-day, same-day
- Facts checked
- October 2026
Expedite amounts are the state's own and sit in the facts box on the Texas LLC page. See expedited options by state.
Before You Start on SOSPortal
- An account. SOSPortal is account-based: you create a login before you can file, search or pay, and the filing's record lives in that account afterwards.
- The certificate is typed, not uploaded. You do not attach the Form 205 PDF. SOSPortal collects each article as a field and produces the certificate from them; the PDF is for mail and in-person filings.
- Card payment with a convenience charge. Texas's fee is paid by card inside the portal, and the state adds a small card convenience charge on top of it.
- Addresses for everyone. Texas publishes the name and address of every initial governing person (each manager, or each member if there are no managers) and of the organizer. Decide which address each person is comfortable having on the public record before you start.
The SOSPortal LLC Filing, Step by Step
Step 1: Create or sign in to your SOSPortal account
Register at the Texas Secretary of State's SOSPortal, then choose a new domestic filing and the limited liability company Certificate of Formation. Everything that follows is saved under this account.
Step 2: Enter the entity name (Article 1)
The name must end in Limited Liability Company, LLC, L.L.C., Limited Company, LC or L.C., and be distinguishable from every name on file. The Secretary of State does not check the name until the filing is reviewed, so a conflict comes back as a rejection, not a warning. A name search or a name reservation before you file avoids that.
Step 3: Name the registered agent and registered office (Article 2)
Either an organization or a Texas-resident individual, with a Texas street address. The agent does not sign the certificate; instead the organizer certifies that the agent has consented, and Texas law (BOC 5.2011) requires that consent to exist. Keep it in writing in the company's records.
Step 4: Choose the governing authority (Article 3)
Managers, or no managers. With managers, list each manager's name and address; without them, list each member's name and address. A member or manager can be a company, in which case its name goes in place of an individual's.
Step 5: Leave the purpose as printed (Article 4)
The purpose is pre-printed: any lawful purpose for which a limited liability company may be organized. Supplemental provisions are optional and most filers leave them blank.
Step 6: Give the initial mailing address
New on the September 2026 revision. This is where the Texas Comptroller sends franchise tax notices. It can be a PO box and it can be outside Texas.
Step 7: Complete the organizer block
The organizer's name, address and signature, certifying under penalty of perjury. Any person, including a company, may organize a Texas LLC, so a filing service can sign here; when we file, we are the organizer and our address is the one printed.
Step 8: Set the effective date
Effective on filing by default, or on a later date up to 90 days out, or on a future event.
Step 9: Make the attestation, pay and submit
The signer affirms that the name does not falsely imply a government affiliation (also new on the current revision), pays the state's fee by card plus the convenience charge, and submits. The file-stamped certificate with the company's file number comes back through the portal once the Secretary of State files it.
Rather not work through SOSPortal yourself?
One short application covers the name search, the Certificate of Formation and the submission through SOSPortal.
Form Your Texas LLCWhy SOSPortal Filings Get Rejected
- A name that is the same as, or not distinguishable from, an existing Texas entity or a reserved name.
- A registered agent address that is a PO box, a mailbox store or outside Texas.
- The governing authority left blank, or the managers box checked with no manager names.
- On paper, an outdated revision of Form 205 that lacks the mailing-address and attestation sections.
- A card payment that is declined, or a payment short of the state's fee.
A rejection costs the days the filing sat in the queue, and in some states the name you wanted. Our name check and field review happen before the filing goes to SOSPortal, which is most of what you pay us for. The form itself, field by field: the Texas Form 205.
Processing and Checking Status
The Texas Secretary of State publishes no standard turnaround for a Certificate of Formation, and we do not promise one. SOSPortal filings generally clear faster than mail, because the certificate is built from typed fields rather than a scanned form.
Texas does sell faster review in three tiers, expedited, next-day and same-day, charged on top of the filing fee. The amounts are the state's own and are listed in the facts box on our Texas LLC page. An expedite shortens the state's review once it has the filing; it does not change how fast the filing reaches the state, which is the part we control.
To check a Texas filing, sign in to SOSPortal: the filing's status is in your account, and once filed the company appears in the portal's business search with its file number and the file-stamped certificate.
Official pages: SOSPortal (sos.state.tx.us).
The speed we control is when the filing reaches Texas: same-day LLC filing sends it to SOSPortal the business day your details are in.
After Approval on SOSPortal
- Franchise tax, not an annual report. Texas has no Secretary of State annual report for LLCs. Instead every Texas LLC files a franchise tax report with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts each May 15, starting the year after formation. Below the no-tax-due threshold ($2.65 million in total revenue for 2026 and 2027) no tax is owed, but the Public Information Report (or Ownership Information Report) is still required. It is filed through the Comptroller's WebFile, and we do not prepare it.
- A sales tax permit from the Comptroller if the company sells taxable goods or services, before the first taxable sale.
- Later Secretary of State filings. An amendment to the certificate, an assumed name certificate and a change of registered agent go through SOSPortal under the same file number.
Filing It Yourself vs Having Us File It
The state fee is the same either way; what changes is who does the work and who is watching when SOSPortal answers.
| Filing it yourself on SOSPortal | Having us file it | |
|---|---|---|
| Checking the name | You search Texas's records yourself; SOSPortal does not warn you about a taken name before you pay. | We search Texas's records before anything is submitted and tell you the same day if there is a conflict. |
| Drafting the Certificate of Formation | You type each field into SOSPortal and read the state's instructions as you go. | We draft every field the way SOSPortal expects, from one short application. |
| The registered agent | You name one who qualifies under Texas's rule. | Yours, checked against Texas's rule, or our registered agent service as an add-on. |
| Watching for a rejection | You watch the email SOSPortal has on file and resubmit if the filing bounces. | We watch the filing through to approval, and a rejection is corrected and refiled. |
| When it is submitted | Whenever you sit down to finish the form. | Standard orders go to Texas within 3 business days; same-day submission by 2 PM Eastern goes in that business day. |
| Who answers questions | The Texas Secretary of State's help pages and phone line. | A person on our team, by email, Monday to Friday. |
| The state fee | Paid to Texas on SOSPortal. | Paid to Texas, the same amount, itemized before you pay. |
SOSPortal LLC Filing Questions
Is SOSPortal the same as SOSDirect?+
SOSPortal is SOSDirect's replacement. The Texas Secretary of State retired SOSDirect on September 29, 2026 and moved online filings, searches and payments to SOSPortal. Pages that still say SOSDirect are describing the old system; the filing itself, Form 205, is the same document with its September 2026 revision.
Can I file a Texas LLC myself on SOSPortal?+
Yes. Create an account, type the certificate's articles into the portal and pay Texas's fee by card. The fee is the same whether you file or we do. The work you take on is the name check, the agent consent you certify to, the addresses of every governing person, and watching the account for a rejection. When we file, each of those is done and checked before the filing goes in.
Does the agent sign Form 205?+
No. The registered agent does not sign the Certificate of Formation. The organizer certifies on the form that the agent has consented to serve, and Texas law requires that consent to exist, so a self-appointed agent should keep written consent in the company's records.
How do I check my Texas filing status?+
Sign in to SOSPortal. The filing's status shows in your account, and once the Secretary of State files the certificate the company appears in the portal's business search with its file number. The file-stamped certificate is returned through the portal; when we file for you, we send it to you by email the day it arrives.
Does Texas have an annual report?+
Not with the Secretary of State. The yearly obligation is the franchise tax report with the Texas Comptroller, due May 15 starting the year after formation. Most small LLCs are under the no-tax-due threshold and owe nothing, but they still file the Public Information Report. That report is a Comptroller filing through WebFile; we do not prepare it.
Is America LLC Filing part of the Texas Secretary of State?+
No. SOSPortal belongs to the Texas Secretary of State, Business and Commercial Section, the government office that files Texas LLCs. America LLC Filing is a private company. We prepare your Certificate of Formation and submit it through SOSPortal for you, and our fee is for that work, separate from the state's own fee.
Can I expedite a Texas LLC?+
Texas sells three faster-review tiers: expedited, next-day and same-day, each charged on top of the filing fee, with the amounts in the facts box on our Texas LLC page. Our same-day submission is a different thing: it gets the filing to the state the business day your details are in. The two can be combined; contact us before you order if you want a state expedite added. Expedited LLC filing by state
Have Your Texas LLC Filed on SOSPortal
Name checked, Certificate of Formation drafted and submitted through SOSPortal, approval sent to your inbox.
Form Your Texas LLC