Starting a business in Texas is one of the most popular ways for founders to get access to a U.S. market, with Dallas, Austin, and Houston. Founders usually choose Texas for no personal income taxes, combined with a highly developed business climate, with top-level advisors and banks. Texas businesses should be handled nicely and carefully since day one, though, because of the licensing, franchise system, and strict rules for some types of business registration (such as LLC).
Today, you will find out how to start a business in Texas: file a Certificate of Formation with the Texas Secretary of State, keep a registered agent in the state, obtain an EIN, register for sales tax if your company needs it, and set up a proper and predictable compliance calendar.
Who this page is for
If you are a founder with the road map including fundraising, options in stocks, or enterprise onboarding, a C-Corp setup is the best way to make it ready properly and clean. Some people see LLC as a better and simpler owner-managed option for Texas business registration, but for venture-facing tech businesses, we typically recommend a more stable and reliable corporate path, and document it properly from day one.
Be sure, Icon.Partners will help you with launching and documenting your Texas company.
IT Ecosystem in Texas
Texas is one of the U.S's biggest operating bases for tech companies. Tesla, for example, relocated its corporate HQ to Austin in an SEC filing. Such as Oracle, which became publicly acknowledged on a state level after moving to the state's capital. Dell Technologies was formed and structured in Round Rock almost from the launch. For founders, that ecosystem often means easier access to vendors, pipelines of talent, investors and counterparties, which are already become comfortable with U.S.-style corporate governance. To be short, Texas always proposed advantages for SaaS, AI, FinTech, and other tech platforms.
Tech teams are looking at business registration in Texas as a practical win for its standardized corporate vehicle that banks, processors, and investors can validate quickly and harmlessly. A clean ownership trail, clear officer authority, and orderly corporate records reduce friction in AML and KYC onboarding and partner diligence — especially when you run payment flows or even a marketplace model.
What to prepare before you file
Before formation, you should gather: the exact legal name of your company, a real Texas registered agent and address, details of the organizer, as well as the initial share structure, such as authorized shares and basic governance logic. Filing institutions in Texas also treat the organizer's appointment of a registered agent as an affirmation that the agent consented to serve, so you also should confirm that consent is in writing and keep it in your records.
Tech startups better decide early who will own key IP rights. Also, you have to find out if you may need an equity incentive plan in the near future, and how you'll evidence officer signing authority for banking and payment providers. Even if you skipped some of this necessary early-planning work, there's nothing hard about fixing it on day one, but pretty expensive to unwind before fundraising.
Key Steps to Register an LLC in Texas
Name check and rules of naming
Confirm availability of the name and required designators. The most popular terms for corporations required by the state's regulating systems are: "corporation", "inc.", “corp”, "incorporated", or an abbreviation approved by the Texas Secretary of State rules.
Appointment with a Texas-registered agent
For every filing entity state requires a continuously maintained registered agent with an address in Texas. This is the necessary operational infrastructure, which lets you receive legal notices properly.
Filing the Certificate of Formation with the Secretary of State
This is the main step for registering a business in Texas, which officially declares the formation of your company by the Secretary of State. The process is often semi-automatically operated via SOSDirect. The state filing fee for a for-profit corporation certificate of formation is approximately 300 USD. After this, your Texas company registration is officially considered by the Texas government.
Company organization after approval
After approval, don't stop at the state confirmation. Prepare bylaws, initial board/stockholder minutes, officer authority, share issuance mechanics, and a basic corporate record book. This is where non-US founders most often create avoidable diligence issues if documentation is incomplete.
Get an EIN and connect banking & payments
For tax administration, payroll and banking/payment onboarding, an EIN is required. The IRS issues EINs directly and warns against paid third-party "EIN services". The IRS also allows applications through fax, mail, and phone for international applicants whose principal place of business is non-U.S.-located.
With formation documents and an EIN in place, we coordinate onboarding with fintech banks/EMIs that work with international founders. National/state banks require founders/directors to have on-site visits for account opening, so founders/directors need to take care of it themselves.
Permits & Texas sales tax
If you sell taxable goods, provide taxable services, or accrue use tax, you may need a Texas sales and use tax permit. For platforms and e-commerce, map this step together with your nexus logic and checkout flow — so you don't discover a tax obligation mid-scale.
Ongoing compliance and Texas franchise tax reporting
Plan ongoing compliance: keep registered agent details current, maintain corporate records, and follow Texas Comptroller reporting expectations. Comptroller guidance notes that entities at or below the "No Tax Due Threshold" may not need a No Tax Due Report for certain report years, but may still need an annual Public Information Report (PIR) or Ownership Information Report (OIR).
How Icon.Partners helps
We coordinate the filing workflow, draft founder-friendly corporate documents, and align the setup with AML and KYC procedure expectations of fintech banks and payment providers.
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5.0
"Their adept use of technology for communication and project management streamlined the entire process."
Thanks to Icon.Partners' efforts, the client was able to integrate with major platforms, such as Google, Facebook, and Stripe, and optimize their platform. The team was highly supportive and responsive from a workflow standpoint, and internal stakeholders were particularly impressed with the service provider's flexibility, professionalism, and technical prowess.
Oleksandr Platonov
CEO, VorfahrQR UG
Germany📍
Apr 10, 2024
Reviews