Texas LLC
What is a Texas LLC (Texas limited liability company)?
The following is the description of a Texas LLC per the Texas Secretary of State: The limited liability company (LLC) is not a partnership or a corporation but rather is a distinct type of entity that has the powers of both a corporation and a partnership. Depending on how the LLC is structured, it may be likened to a general partnership with limited liability, or to a limited partnership where all the owners are free to participate in management and all have limited liability, or to an “S” corporation without the ownership and tax restrictions imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. Unlike the partnership, where the key element is the individual, the essence of the limited liability company is the entity, requiring for its creation more formal requirements. 1 William D. Bagley & Phillip P. Whynott, The Limited Liability Company, §2.10, (2d ed. 2d rev. James Publishing, 1995)
The owners of an LLC are called “Members.” A Member can be an individual, partnership, corporation, trust, and any other legal or commercial entity. Generally, the liability of the members is limited to their investment. They also get the benefits of pass-through tax treatment much like partners in a partnership do.
A limited liability company can be managed by Managers or by its Members. The management structure must be stated in the Certificate of Formation. Management structure is a determination that is made by the LLC and its Members in the beginning before the Certificate of Formation is filed and approved.
Why is a Texas LLC a good business entity structure?
Personal Asset Protection. It limits any personal liability — any liabilities incurred by your Texas LLC (debts, obligations, and any other liabilities) are legally considered to be separate from your personal assets.
You are not required to have an annual meeting like you do with a C-corporation or S-corporation. Texas LLCs are simple to run and you can make changes to the Operating Agreement and By-Laws any time. They do not get turned into the Texas Secretary of State when you make changes. Those are for your files only.
Filing and Paying taxes is easy. An LLC is typically taxed as a pass-through entity. As such, all of the profits or losses pass-through the LLC to the Members, who report the profits or losses on their personal tax returns. Unlike a C-corporation, the LLC does not pay federal taxes on its income.
There are several business tax filing options for an LLC. You can file as a single-member LLC, a partnership with several members, as a regular corporation, and as an S-corporation to avoid double-taxation.
How do we keep your personal information private?
Every corporation in Texas is required to list a Texas registered agent on file. You can visit our Texas registered agent webpage for further details of the duties of a Texas registered agent. If you use us to set up your Texas LLC, then we list ourselves as your Texas registered agent on file. This will keep your personal information from being shown on the Texas corporation database. This publicly listed database is on the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website.
If you already have your own Texas LLC or corporation and want to change over to us, here’s what you do. You click the secured link below and sign up your corporation. We file the change-over with the Texas Secretary of State on your behalf. It usually takes about 2-3 business days to complete. Once we are listed your personal information is no longer shown on the front page of your corporation listing.
Here Is The 12 Step Process To Form A Texas LLC:
- Choose a name for your LLC
- Choose a registered agent. Use us for privacy purposes or be your own (not advised)
- Choose whether the LLC will be Manager-Managed or Member-Managed
- Purpose of your LLC
- File a document called Certificate of Formation (Form 205)
- List the Organizer (person filing the Certificate of Formation)
- Sign and date the Certificate of Formation
- File online through SOSDirect and pay $300 with credit card (fastest) although Fees paid by Credit Card are subject to the statutorily authorized convenience fee of 2.7% of total fees. You can mail the Certificate of Formation into the Secretary of State at P.O. Box 13697, Austin, TX 78711-3697 along with a check for $300
- You will receive an email with a .pdf file attached from the Texas Secretary of State providing the approved certified filing copy of the Certificate of Formation.
- Apply for your federal employer identification number with IRS online for by fax
- Create an Operating Agreement and By-Laws (these do not get filed with Texas Secretary of State). Its best to speak with an attorney however, you can use online templates and prepare these yourself.
- Take the approved documents to the bank and open a corporate bank account
As you can see, the process is complicated and time consuming. We have a solution!
IncorporateMax has filed over 1,500 Texas LLC formations and counting……….
Take advantage of our Texas LLC Filing Service Today! One Time $375 includes:
- *Verify corporate name availability
- *Unlimited customer support before/during/after the filing process
- *State Filing Fee ($300 One Time)
- *Prepare and File your Articles of Organization/Certificate of Formation
- *Obtain Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- *FREE first year Texas Registered Agent Service ($49/year value)
- *Electronic delivery of approved documents to your secure Client Portal
- *2-3 Business Day Electronic Delivery
What’s next after setting up your Texas LLC?
Complete your Operating Agreement (yourself or legal counsel)
Complete your By-Laws (yourself or legal counsel)
Hire an accountant/CPA
File your federal tax return for your LLC annually
File Texas annual franchise tax return by May 15th of every year
