Texas Registered Agent Service
Yes. The Texas Business Organizations Code requires every domestic or foreign filing entity to maintain a registered agent and registered office in Texas. An entity may not serve as its own registered agent — though an officer, owner or employee can — and any agent designated on or after 1 January 2010 must have consented in writing using the Secretary of State’s Form 401-A.
Verified against the Texas Secretary of State, Business & Public Filings Division · Reviewed September 2026
- Appointed the same day
- Real Texas street address
- Every US filing jurisdiction, one login
- Required?
- Yes, always
- Address rule
- Physical TX address, not a mail-service box
- Form to switch agents
- Form 401 — Statement of Change of Registered Office/Agent
- Key deadline
- May 15 (Comptroller, not SOS)See all deadlines
Your Texas year
Every recurring Texas filing on a single line, with a two-week heads-up before each due date.
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May: Franchise tax report + Public Information Report due, May 15
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
One filing a year: Franchise tax report + Public Information Report, due May 15. No annual report to the Texas Secretary of State for LLCs or for-profit corporations.
Deadline rules from the Texas Secretary of State, Business & Public Filings Division · reviewed September 2026. We confirm every date when you file.
What does Texas require of your registered agent?
The rule
Governing statute: Texas Business Organizations Code § 5.201(b), read with 1 Tex. Admin. Code § 79.29
The registered office must be a physical address in Texas where the registered agent can be served with process during business hours, and it is also where the Secretary of State mails correspondence. It cannot be a post office box that is part of a commercial mail or message service unless that commercial enterprise is itself the registered agent.
The Secretary of State states the registered office must be an address where the agent can be served with process during business hours. The agent’s business office address and the registered office address are the same address.
If you have no agent
Failure to appoint or maintain a registered agent and registered office may result in the involuntary termination of a domestic filing entity or the revocation of a foreign filing entity’s registration to transact business in Texas. Designating someone who never consented also exposes you to the false-statement liabilities and penalties in BOC §§ 4.007 and 4.008.
New to the role? What a registered agent actually receives — the role, explained in plain English.
Other states call the same role a registered agent, resident agent, statutory agent or agent for service of process. In Texas the law says registered agent. Which term each state uses.
Operating beyond Texas? Compare agent requirements state by state — the term, the address rule and the recurring filing all change at the state line.
Licensed, and forming a practice in Texas? Texas has a professional limited liability company with a name rule of its own, and the agent requirement does not move with it. What Texas asks of a professional LLC
What does Texas ask you to file, and when?
| Obligation | Form | Due | Late penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC formation (Certificate of Formation) | Certificate of Formation for a Limited Liability Company (Form 205) | At formation | N/A |
| Registered agent consent | Consent of Registered Agent to Appointment (Form 401-A) | Signed before or at the time of designation | Designating a non-consenting agent triggers BOC §§ 4.007 and 4.008 liabilities |
| Annual report to the Secretary of State | - | N/A | - |
| Annual franchise tax report + Public Information Report | Franchise Tax Report with the Public Information Report (PIR), filed with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts | May 15 every year; if May 15 falls on a weekend or holiday, the next business day | Loss of franchise tax good standing, and ultimately forfeiture of the entity’s right to transact business |
| Change of registered agent or registered office | Change of Registered Agent and/or Registered Office (Form 401) | When the agent or office changes | - |
State fees change; we confirm current amounts with you before anything is filed.
Missed a filing? What happens to a Texas LLC, and how to put it right — Texas’s own status term, the filing that brings it back and the time limit.
What we file for you in Texas
- Every filing in the table above, prepared and submitted on time
- Reminders ahead of each deadline, for every entity you hold
- State fees confirmed with you before anything is filed
Priced for your portfolio, not a rate card.
Every Texas quote is built around your entities, your states and your filings — one entity or hundreds. Most quotes are same-day.
How do you appoint or change your registered agent in Texas?
Procedure scope: Texas domestic LLCs and registered foreign LLCs subject to the Business Organizations Code; Form 401 also serves other Texas and foreign filing entities subject to that Code.
5 steps
to switch your registered agent in Texas.
Step 1: Copy the entity's legal name, current registered agent and current registered-office address into Form 401; include the Secretary of State file number if available, as the instructions recommend it but do not make it mandatory.
Agent consent
Step 2: Obtain the new agent's written or electronic consent. Choose either an individual Texas resident or an eligible organization other than the represented entity itself.
The form
Step 3: Complete the applicable individual or organization option in item 4. If the office changes, complete section C with the Texas street address, which must be the agent's business address where service can be personally received during normal business hours.
Texas formForm 401 — Statement of Change of Registered Office/AgentAgent consent
Step 4: Authorize the change on behalf of the entity and select the effective-filing option. Have a person authorized to act for the entity sign the statement and affirm the agent's consent.
Submit
Step 5: File through the SOSPortal link in the instructions or submit the signed form by mail or in person as directed. Save the evidence of filing and retain the consent in the entity's records.
Change fee · Set by the stateAny state fee for this change is confirmed with you before anything is filed.
We handle the whole swapForm 401 covers BOC-governed domestic and foreign filing entities, including LLCs and ordinary corporations. Special-purpose nonprofit corporations may have different statutory requirements. Unincorporated nonprofit associations, Texas financial institutions and defense base development authorities use Form 707 instead. Form 408 is for an existing agent's own name or address change, not the entity's appointment of a different agent.
Switching providers? How to change your registered agent in Texas — the filing route, consent and entity-specific instructions, with official sources.
Can you be your own registered agent in Texas?
You personally can, but your company cannot. Texas is explicit: an officer, owner or employee may serve as the entity’s registered agent, but an entity may not serve as its own registered agent, and neither can the Secretary of State or any other government agency. The registered office has to be a physical Texas address staffed during business hours, and it cannot be a commercial mail box — so a mailbox rental defeats the purpose. Lose the agent and Texas does not merely fine you: a domestic filing entity faces involuntary termination and a foreign one faces revocation of its registration. The full guide: Can you be your own registered agent?
Should you be your own registered agent?
Three honest questions about Texas. If you don’t need us, we’ll say so.
- Address privacyNow
- Reaching you with legal papers
- Other states
Is it fine if your home or office address goes on the public record?
As your own registered agent, the street address you list is the one that appears on Texas's public record.
Should you even hire a registered agent?
If you live in Texas, keep regular hours at a fixed address, and run one entity, you may not need us, and we will tell you so. A service earns its keep when you value privacy, travel, run more than one entity, or operate across state lines.
| What the job involves in Texas | Be your own agent | LLCity |
|---|---|---|
| Physical TX address, not a mail-service box | Your home or office, on public record | Our Texas address, your privacy kept |
| You must be reliably reachable to accept and forward service of process | On you, every business day | Always staffed, scanned the day it arrives |
| Multi-state coverage | One state only | All 50 plus DC and Puerto Rico, one login |
| Deadline tracking | On you | Reminders before every deadline |
| Served in front of clients | Possible | Never, it comes to us |
Why do businesses in Texas choose LLCity?
Your Texas registered agent
Same-day appointment, mail scanned on arrival, and compliance reminders before every deadline.
- Real Texas street address (no PO box)
- Every notice scanned the day it arrives
- One dashboard for every state you operate in
One login
Every entity and every state in a single dashboard.
Every deadline tracked
Yours fall when your states say they fall. We watch all of them.
Every entity
Add states and entities without adding vendors.
Managing agents for more than three entities?
One agent, one login, and every state deadline tracked for every entity you own.
Put Texas’s deadlines in your calendar
Set your formation date and download reminders for every recurring Texas filing — or have us email them.
Franchise tax report + Public Information Report
Next due: May 15, 2027 · repeats yearly · Filed with the Texas Comptroller, not the Secretary of State; moves to the next business day if May 15 falls on a weekend or holiday
No annual report to the Texas Secretary of State for LLCs or for-profit corporations
Texas does not ask the same thing of every entity, so each line above says which entity it belongs to. Not sure which is yours? Call 212-202-5750 and we will confirm it before anything is filed.
Dates sourced from the Texas filing office and carrying the month we last checked them. Schedules change — we confirm everything before anything is filed.
Is that letter really from Texas?
Private companies mail official-looking offers to file your recurring report or sell you a certificate. Here is what Texas has said about them, and where to file directly.
Office of the Texas Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division
“the company’s mailer is designed to mislead Texans to believe that it was sent by a government agency”
File or order directly from Texas:
Certificate of Fact – Status / certified copies · Copies and certificates overview
How to tell a lookalike from a real state notice, and what to do with one
Questions about registered agent service in Texas
Do I need a registered agent in Texas?
Yes. The Texas Business Organizations Code requires every domestic or foreign filing entity to maintain a registered agent and registered office in Texas. Under BOC § 5.201(b), any agent designated on or after 1 January 2010 must have consented in writing or electronically, using the Secretary of State’s Form 401-A. Failing to maintain one risks involuntary termination.
Can I be my own registered agent in Texas?
You can, but your company cannot. Texas states that an officer, owner or employee may serve as the registered agent, while an entity may not serve as its own registered agent. The catch is the registered office: it must be a physical Texas address staffed during business hours, and it cannot be a commercial mail or message service box.
Does a Texas LLC file an annual report?
Not with the Secretary of State. Texas LLCs and for-profit corporations file no annual report there — only LLPs do, with nonprofits and some LPs filing a periodic report on notice. What you do file is the annual franchise tax report and Public Information Report with the Texas Comptroller, due May 15 each year.
What happens if my Texas LLC has no registered agent?
Failure to appoint or maintain a registered agent and registered office may result in involuntary termination of a domestic filing entity, or revocation of a foreign entity’s registration to transact business in Texas. Naming someone who never consented is worse still: it triggers the false-statement liabilities and penalties in BOC sections 4.007 and 4.008.
How do I change my registered agent in Texas?
Texas domestic LLCs and registered foreign LLCs subject to the Business Organizations Code; Form 401 also serves other Texas and foreign filing entities subject to that Code. A Texas LLC replaces its registered agent with Form 401, not the consent form or the form used by an existing agent changing its own details. Obtain written or electronic consent first, authorize the change and file the statement with the Secretary of State. Form 401 covers BOC-governed domestic and foreign filing entities, including LLCs and ordinary corporations. Special-purpose nonprofit corporations may have different statutory requirements. Unincorporated nonprofit associations, Texas financial institutions and defense base development authorities use Form 707 instead. Form 408 is for an existing agent's own name or address change, not the entity's appointment of a different agent.
Figures verified against the Texas Secretary of State, Business & Public Filings Division (www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/registeredagents.shtml) · Last updated September 2026
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