To look up an LLC in Texas by name, use one of two official databases: the Texas Secretary of State’s SOSDirect portal, which charges $1.00 per search and returns formation details, registered agent, and filing history, or the Texas Comptroller’s Taxable Entity Search, which is free and tells you whether the company is current on its franchise tax and authorized to transact business. Checking both gives you the fullest picture of a Texas LLC.1Office of the Texas Secretary of State. SOSDirect2Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Franchise Tax Account Status Search
Searching by Name on SOSDirect
SOSDirect is the Secretary of State’s online business entity database, available around the clock at sos.state.tx.us. Each search costs $1.00, charged to a credit card.1Office of the Texas Secretary of State. SOSDirect Once you’re in, you can look up an entity three ways.
- By entity name. Type the LLC’s legal name or a portion of it. Many Texas LLCs share similar names, so a specific query returns a shorter, cleaner list.
- By file number. Every entity gets a unique SOS file number when it registers. If you have that number from a contract or filing, it pulls up the exact record.
- By registered agent name. Useful when you know who represents the LLC for legal purposes but aren’t certain of the entity’s exact legal name. It can also surface every entity tied to one agent.
Click into a result to open the entity’s detail page, where the substantive information lives.
Using the Comptroller’s Free Search
The Texas Comptroller’s Taxable Entity Search is at comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/franchise/account-status/search. You can search by taxpayer number, entity name, or Secretary of State file number, and no account or payment is required.2Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Franchise Tax Account Status Search
The results tell you whether the LLC has the right to transact business in Texas, which turns on whether it’s current on franchise tax filings and payments.3Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Comptroller’s Databases A printout of the results page is sometimes required at real estate closings and for certain financial transactions.
What the Results Showh2>
SOSDirect results for an LLC typically include the entity’s full legal name, its SOS file number, and the date it was originally formed or registered. You’ll also see the name and address of the LLC’s registered agent, who is the person or company designated to receive legal documents for the LLC. Current status and filing history round out the record.
The Comptroller’s search focuses more narrowly on tax compliance: whether the entity has the right to transact business and its franchise tax account status. It won’t give you the same filing history that SOSDirect provides, but for many transactions, tax standing is the more important data point.
What LLC Status Labels Mean
The status label tells you whether the LLC is legally authorized to operate.
- Active. The LLC is in good standing and authorized to conduct business in Texas.
- Forfeited. The LLC has lost its right to transact business, almost always because it failed to file franchise tax reports or pay franchise taxes owed to the Comptroller. The Comptroller applies the same forfeiture procedures to LLCs that apply to corporations.4Texas Public Law. Texas Tax Code Section 171.2515 – Forfeiture of Right of Taxable Entity to Transact Business in This State
- Voluntarily dissolved. The owners chose to shut down the LLC and filed the paperwork to make it official.
- Involuntarily dissolved. The state terminated the LLC, usually for ongoing noncompliance with filing requirements.
- Withdrawn. A foreign LLC, meaning one formed in another state, registered to do business in Texas and later pulled its registration.
Forfeiture is the label you’ll run into most often when something looks off. It doesn’t mean the business was shady. Plenty of legitimate small businesses lose their standing by missing a franchise tax deadline. The consequences are still real. Under the Texas Tax Code, the personal liability provisions that apply to corporate directors and officers after forfeiture also apply to the people running a forfeited LLC, so managers and members who keep operating can be held personally responsible for the debts the company takes on.4Texas Public Law. Texas Tax Code Section 171.2515 – Forfeiture of Right of Taxable Entity to Transact Business in This State
If you’re considering hiring, contracting with, or lending money to a Texas LLC that shows as forfeited, keep in mind that it may not be able to enforce contracts or maintain lawsuits in Texas courts until it reinstates by filing the missing reports and paying back taxes and penalties. Ask the company to get current before you move forward.
What You Won’t Find About Owners
People often search a Texas LLC by name expecting to see a list of owners. That information is harder to pin down than you might expect. The Texas Business Organizations Code does not require an LLC to list its members or managers in the certificate of formation. The statute requires the entity’s name, registered agent, mailing address, and organizer names, not the names of the people who own or manage the business going forward.5State of Texas. Texas Code Business Organizations Code 3.005 – Contents of Certificate of Formation
The Secretary of State does collect the names of initial governing persons (initial managers or initial members) on Form 205, the certificate of formation.6Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Form 205 – Certificate of Formation – Limited Liability Company So you may find who ran the LLC when it was created, but not necessarily who runs it today. The Secretary of State’s office has confirmed it does not maintain ongoing ownership information for LLCs.7Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Management and Ownership FAQs
The Comptroller’s records come closer to current data. Every LLC that files a franchise tax report also submits a Public Information Report listing the names and addresses of its officers, directors, managers, or members, and that information is public.7Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Management and Ownership FAQs If you need to know who is currently involved with a Texas LLC, the Public Information Report is your best bet.
When to Order Certified Documents
A basic search gives you screen-level information, which is fine for preliminary research. Some situations call for official documentation carrying the state’s seal.
A certificate of fact, sometimes called a certificate of existence or status, is the Texas equivalent of a “certificate of good standing” in other states. It confirms the LLC exists, when it was formed, and whether it’s in good standing. The fee is $15.8Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Business Filings and Trademarks Fee Schedule Banks, lenders, and out-of-state business partners commonly ask for this document.
Certified copies of actual filings, such as the certificate of formation or amendments, are also available through the Secretary of State’s office at $1.00 per page plus any applicable certificate fee. These carry more weight than a printout when you need to prove what was filed and when, such as in litigation or a business acquisition.
A Note on the Federal Beneficial Ownership Database
If you’ve heard about the federal Corporate Transparency Act as a way to look up LLC owners, it isn’t currently a useful tool for a Texas-formed company. As of early 2025, FinCEN issued an interim final rule exempting all entities formed in the United States from beneficial ownership reporting. Only foreign companies registered to do business in a U.S. state must file, and they aren’t required to report information on any U.S. persons.9FinCEN. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting For a domestic Texas LLC, the state-level records described above are still where the information lives.