Texas Business Search

How to read the official business-entity file, and a way to have the search run for you.

Texas Business Search

Texas LLC lookup

Quick answer. A Texas LLC lookup starts in SOSPortal, where the Secretary of State keeps the certificate of formation, the file number, and the registered agent. Each search there is $1. Then run the Comptroller’s free franchise tax account status search with the taxpayer number or EIN to see the right to transact business.

Official office

Texas Secretary of State, Corporations Section

Open the official search

Phone: (512) 463-5555

Secretary of State, 400 W. 15th Street, Austin, TX 78701. Mail: P.O. Box 13697, Austin, TX 78711-3697.

SOSPortal is online 24/7. The Secretary of State states a $1 statutory fee for each search.

Steps

  1. Search SOSPortal by name or file number

    The Secretary of State’s business-filings guide tells you to open Search and Order Records, start a new search, choose file number or entity name, and click the file number on the result. The portal information page is sos.texas.gov/corp/sosda.

  2. Read the agent and the formation date

    The SOS record is where a texas llc search shows who the registered agent is and when the certificate of formation was filed. Members are not a public directory. Do not expect an owner list.

  3. Carry the tax ID to the Comptroller

    The SOS file number will not, by itself, run the Comptroller screen. Use the 11-digit taxpayer number or the EIN at the account status search. The franchise tax status page explains forfeiture.

  4. Check the assumed name if the invoice uses another name

    An LLC doing business under a name that is not its legal name should have a Form 503 on file with the Secretary of State, listing the counties. That is not the same as a sole proprietor’s county-clerk filing. See assumed name.

Formation fees are a different page

Searches about “how to start an LLC in Texas” or the filing fee belong on the Secretary of State’s formation instructions and fee schedule, which change. This lookup tells you whether an LLC is already on file. It does not quote a formation fee we have not just read on that schedule, and it does not file the certificate for you.

Foreign LLCs

An LLC formed in another state appears in a Texas LLC lookup after it registers with the Secretary of State. Until then, SOSPortal will not show it, even if it has customers in Texas. The home-state record is where you read whatever that state makes public.

Common mistakes

  • Stopping after the Comptroller says the entity may transact business, without confirming the legal name and agent at the SOS.
  • Using a registered agent’s internal account number as the SOS file number.
  • Treating a forfeited right to transact as a mere paperwork note. The Comptroller cites officer and director liability and the loss of the right to sue once forfeiture happens.

Questions

Where do I run a texas llc lookup?

In the Secretary of State’s SOSPortal. Budget the $1 search fee the SOS page states. Use the Comptroller afterward for franchise-tax status.

Does the SOS show the owners of a Texas LLC?

No. You get the entity record, including the registered agent. Ownership is in the company agreement unless a specific filed document names someone.

What if I only have the EIN?

Use it on the Comptroller’s franchise tax account status search. For the SOS file, you still need the legal name or the SOS file number inside SOSPortal.

Sources reviewed