How to Check If an LLC Is Active in Texas: Search and Status Labels

To check if an LLC is active in Texas, run the entity through the Texas Comptroller’s free Franchise Tax Account Status search at comptroller.texas.gov. You can search by legal name, 11-digit taxpayer number, 9-digit federal EIN, or Secretary of State file number, and the result will tell you whether the LLC has the right to transact business in Texas.¹ If you need more than a status label — filing history, registered agent, or a certificate you can hand to a bank — use the Secretary of State’s SOSDirect portal, where searches cost $1.00 each.²

What You Need Before You Search

You can search with just the LLC’s legal name, but a number gives you cleaner results, especially when several Texas businesses use similar names. If you go with the name, spell it exactly as registered, including the “LLC” or “Limited Liability Company” designator.

Two identifiers do the heavy lifting. The Texas Taxpayer Number is an 11-digit number issued by the Comptroller and printed on franchise tax correspondence.³ The Secretary of State File Number is a 6- to 10-digit number assigned at formation or registration; it stays with the entity even if the name changes. The Comptroller’s search also accepts a 9-digit federal EIN, which helps if the only paperwork you have is federal.¹

Running the Free Comptroller Search

Go to comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/franchise/account-status/search and enter whichever identifier you have. Submit, and if more than one entity matches, click the correct legal name to open the detail page.

The results page shows the LLC’s legal name, mailing address, and its franchise tax standing. The field that answers your question is “Right to Transact Business.” If it reads Active, the LLC has met its franchise tax obligations and is authorized to operate in Texas. Anything else is a signal to keep digging.

What this search will not tell you: when the LLC was formed, what amendments it has filed, who its registered agent is, or whether it was voluntarily dissolved versus administratively forfeited. For any of that, you need SOSDirect.

Using SOSDirect for Filing History

SOSDirect is the Secretary of State’s paid portal. You’ll create either a temporary session account or a permanent one if you search often.⁴ Each business organizations search costs $1.00, billed to a credit card or a pre-funded account.²

After logging in, choose the business organizations search, enter the LLC’s name or file number, and open the detail page. You’ll see every document the entity has filed since formation, its current status with the Secretary of State, and the registered agent’s name and address. This is usually the fastest way to distinguish a voluntary dissolution from a tax forfeiture, or to confirm that a name change explains why a search by old name came up empty.

Getting a Certified Certificate of Status

If a bank, lender, or court is asking for proof of good standing, a screenshot won’t cut it. The Secretary of State issues a Certificate of Fact – Status as official evidence of the entity’s existence or authority to transact business in Texas, showing the current legal name, date of formation, and status.⁵ You order it through SOSDirect. The fee is $15.⁶

What the Status Labels Mean

The label on your results page answers whether the LLC can legally do business:

Active / In Good Standing: The LLC is current on franchise tax filings and authorized to transact business in Texas.
Forfeited: The Comptroller has revoked the LLC’s right to do business, almost always because it failed to file a required franchise tax report or pay tax owed within 45 days of a forfeiture notice.⁷
Terminated / Dissolved: The LLC has been formally dissolved and no longer exists as a legal entity. This can be voluntary or involuntary.
Franchise Tax Ended: The franchise tax account has been closed, usually because the business dissolved or went through a conversion or merger.

The two sites can show slightly different labels because they track different things. The Comptroller tracks tax compliance; the Secretary of State tracks legal existence. An LLC can be “in existence” on SOSDirect but “forfeited” on the Comptroller’s site if it owes back taxes. When results seem inconsistent, check both.

What a Non-Active Status Means

Forfeiture has real legal consequences. Under the Texas Tax Code, a forfeited entity is denied the right to sue or defend in Texas courts.⁷ Texas courts have generally read this to mean a forfeited entity cannot initiate new lawsuits or bring affirmative claims and counterclaims until it revives its standing, though it may still defend cases already filed against it.

Directors and officers of a forfeited entity can also face personal liability for the company’s debts, which cuts against the whole reason most owners chose an LLC structure.⁷

Contracts signed during a forfeiture period aren’t automatically void, and Texas courts have generally upheld them. But enforcement is another matter: an entity that can’t file suit can’t sue to collect. If you’re checking status because you’re about to sign with the other side, a forfeited counterparty means you could end up holding a contract they can’t enforce and you may struggle to collect on.

A terminated entity has less room still. After termination, the LLC continues to exist for a limited three-year wind-down period, only for purposes like defending existing lawsuits and distributing remaining assets. After those three years, it ceases to exist entirely.

Reinstating a Forfeited Texas LLC

If the search shows your own LLC as forfeited, the situation is fixable, but it involves both agencies:

Clear the tax problem first. File all delinquent franchise tax reports and pay outstanding tax, penalties, and interest with the Comptroller.
Request a tax clearance letter. Once you’re square, the Comptroller issues a letter stating the entity has satisfied all franchise tax liabilities.
File a certificate of reinstatement with the Secretary of State, attaching the tax clearance letter. The certificate must include the LLC’s name, SOS file number, the date the forfeiture took effect, and current registered agent information.⁸

Watch the deadline. You must reinstate before the third anniversary of the forfeiture date. Miss that window and the Secretary of State may involuntarily terminate the entity, at which point bringing it back becomes significantly harder or impossible. Reinstatement approved before the deadline treats the LLC as if it had existed continuously through the forfeiture period, which retroactively closes the gap in its legal standing.⁸

1
Comptroller of Public Accounts. Franchise Tax Account Status Search
2
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. SOSDirect – Online Searching and Filing
3
Texas Comptroller. Identify Taxpayer
4
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Filing Options
5
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Copies and Certificates
6
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Business Filings and Trademarks Fee Schedule
7
State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Chapter 171 – Franchise Tax
8
State of Texas. Texas Business Organizations Code Chapter 9