Texas annual report: wrong name, real deadline.
Texas files no annual report at the Secretary of State, which is where the confusion starts. The yearly obligation lives at the Comptroller instead: the franchise tax report with its Public Information Report, due May 15, and most small companies owe zero tax but must file anyway. Skip it and Texas forfeits your right to do business, then your existence, in writing. Here is the system under the wrong name everyone searches.
This year's report, prepared and filed with the Secretary of State, with your standing verified after it posts.
Four facts cover the whole system
Not a Secretary of State filing at all: the yearly obligation is the franchise tax report plus the Public Information Report, filed with the Texas Comptroller. The information report is what keeps your addresses, officers, and agent current on the public record.
May 15, every year, for franchise tax and information report together. Fiscal-year companies still answer on May 15; Texas does not move the date around your books the way report states do. Put it on a watched calendar →
For most small companies: nothing in tax, because revenue below the no-tax-due threshold, set well above two million dollars, owes zero. The filing itself is still mandatory. Penalties, not fees, are how Texas charges for this deadline.
Penalties and interest first, then the Comptroller certifies the failure and the company forfeits its right to transact business, sliding toward Forfeited Existence: unable to enforce its own contracts in Texas courts. Reinstatement requires clearing the tax account completely.
✓ Accuracy verified against the official state schedule · checked 2026
Zero tax due, full consequences anyway
Texas replaces the annual report with the Comptroller’s franchise tax report and Public Information Report, due May 15. Most small companies owe zero tax below the no-tax-due threshold but must file regardless. Nonfiling forfeits the right to transact business, then existence itself, and a forfeited company cannot enforce its own contracts. The deadline wears a tax costume. Treat it like the report it is.
Where you stand decides what you do next
Ahead: we prepare the franchise report and PIR together and file both before the date. Behind: file now, because penalties are arithmetic but forfeiture is a certification, and you want to stay on the arithmetic side.
The path back runs through the Comptroller, not the Secretary of State: clear the franchise account, every unfiled year, then reinstate. We assemble the whole stack at once, because piecemeal fixes stall.
The most expensive assumption in Texas: the no-tax-due threshold erases the bill, never the filing. A watched calendar files your zero-due report every May like the obligation it is.
They owed nothing, and lost their standing over it
Our revenue was nowhere near the threshold, so we owed zero franchise tax, and I read that as owing zero attention. Two silent Mays later a customer’s lawyer pointed out our status: forfeited, unable to enforce the very contract we were arguing about. Clearing the account took weeks; the leverage we lost took longer. In Texas, zero due and nothing due are different sentences.
Representative composite drawn from customer outcomes.
Ask what the deadline means for you
Does Texas really have no annual report?
My revenue is small. Do I still have to file by May 15?
The company I am vetting shows Forfeited Existence. What does that mean here?
Every deadline your entity has, watched in one place
Every state's record, one guide per state
Name AvailabilityDistinguishable is not the same as safe, check properly
Registered AgentA Texas address that never misses a service of process
Compliance CalendarYour deadlines tracked, so the record stays boring
CRMThe counterparties you vet become the clients you keep
Business BankingOpen the account the day your filing comes back
Texas, beyond the report
How to Start an LLC in Texas
Name search to filed Articles, the Texas playbook.
Read the guide → CostsWhat a Texas LLC Costs
State fees, the recurring bill, and the first-year total.
See the numbers → State hubForm a Business in Texas
Entity types, taxes, and the Texas playbook.
Open the hub → FileForm an LLC in Texas
From clean name to filed Articles, handled.
Start the filing →Texas Annual Report questions.
Does Texas require an annual report?
Not at the Secretary of State: Texas has no annual report there at all. The yearly obligation is the franchise tax report and Public Information Report filed with the Texas Comptroller, which together do the job other states assign to annual reports. We prepare and file both as part of annual report service.
When is the Texas franchise tax report due?
May 15, every year, for the franchise tax report and the Public Information Report together, regardless of your fiscal year. The state moves the date only when May 15 falls on a weekend or holiday. It belongs on a watched calendar beside your federal deadlines.
How much does the Texas filing cost?
For most small companies, nothing: revenue below the no-tax-due threshold, set well above two million dollars, owes zero franchise tax. The filing itself remains mandatory at every revenue level. Larger companies calculate tax on their margin. When we prepare and file it, the total is our service fee plus a transaction fee, one-time or on the automated plan, with any tax due passing through as calculated, itemized on the pricing page.
What happens if I skip the Texas franchise report?
Penalties and interest accrue on any tax owed, and, regardless of tax, the Comptroller certifies the failure: the company forfeits its right to transact business and slides to Forfeited Existence, unable to enforce its contracts in Texas courts. Reinstatement requires clearing the entire account.
What is the Public Information Report?
The half of the filing that works like a classic annual report: it refreshes your officers, directors or managers, addresses, and registered agent on the public record. It files with the franchise report even when the tax due is zero. We keep it matched to your real setup.
Do foreign entities registered in Texas file the franchise report too?
Yes. Any entity registered to do business in Texas files the franchise tax report and Public Information Report by May 15, on top of its home state’s obligations, and forfeits the same rights for skipping it. Our multi-entity dashboard tracks every state you operate in.
Can File.Business handle my Texas franchise report?
Yes. We put May 15 on a watched calendar, prepare the franchise report and Public Information Report together, file with the Comptroller even in zero-due years, and verify your standing after it posts, every year, automatically.
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