Key Takeaways
- Texas allows incoming LLC domestication directly (Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code §§10.101-10.156) — your LLC keeps its original formation date
- Filing fee: $600 total — $300 for the Certificate of Conversion plus $300 for the Certificate of Formation
- No new EIN is needed. Texas's conversion statute continues the same legal entity — the IRS treats your EIN as unchanged, though you should update your address on file with the IRS (Form 8822-B) once your Texas registered agent address is set.
- No separate withdrawal filing is required in Texas. If your LLC was previously registered to do business in Texas as a foreign entity, BOC §9.012 automatically terminates that foreign registration once the conversion is effective — you don't need to file anything extra to close it out. What you owe your actual home state (dissolution, final filings) is that state's own requirement, separate from Texas's process.
- Same-day LLC domestication filing available through LLC Attorney, at no markup on state fees
If your LLC is formed in another state but you've relocated (or your business has) and want Texas to be its new legal home, Texas's conversion statute lets you make that move without dissolving the company and starting over.
This guide covers exactly how to convert an out-of-state LLC into a Texas LLC in 2026 — the BOC Chapter 10 filing, the $600 total cost, the Comptroller tax certificate you'll need instead of a good-standing certificate, and the franchise-tax pro-ration trap that catches fast-growing businesses in their first partial year.
What Is LLC Domestication?
Domestication (sometimes called continuance or statutory conversion) lets you move your LLC from one state to Texas without dissolving it and starting over. Done correctly, the LLC keeps its original formation date, its EIN, and its contracts — only its home state changes.
Can You Domesticate an LLC Into Texas?
Yes. Texas's LLC Act includes a statutory domestication provision (Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code §§10.101-10.156), so an out-of-state LLC can become a Texas LLC directly while retaining its original formation date.
How to Domesticate Your LLC in Texas
- Filing agency: Texas Secretary of State
- Form: Certificate of Conversion of a Foreign Entity Converting to a Texas Filing Entity, filed together with a Certificate of Formation (Form 647)
- Filing fee: $600 total — $300 for the Certificate of Conversion plus $300 for the Certificate of Formation
- Processing time: About 2 weeks online through SOSUpload/SOSDirect; 4-8 weeks by mail. Texas's new "Texas Express" expedite service (rolled out mid-2026) now offers a faster standard tier too — older content quoting only the 4-8 week mail timeline is stale.
- Expedited option: Texas Express expedited filing: same-day for $750 per document plus the base filing fee, or next-business-day for $500 per document plus the base filing fee — a cheaper 2-3 business day tier is also available. This program is new as of 2026; earlier Texas guidance describing only the old 1-day/2-hour expedite tiers is outdated.
- Certificate of Good Standing: Not required by Texas.
- Plan of domestication: A formal plan of domestication must be adopted and filed alongside the conversion paperwork.
- Member approval: Texas's BOC defers to your LLC's home-state law and its own governing documents rather than imposing a fixed Texas vote threshold — the conversion must be "approved as required by (1) the laws of the jurisdiction of formation and (2) the governing documents of the converting entity," so check both your operating agreement and your current state's LLC act.
What Happens to Your EIN, Contracts, and Formation Date?
Domesticating to Texas preserves your LLC's original formation date — the entity continues, it doesn't restart.
No new EIN is needed. Texas's conversion statute continues the same legal entity — the IRS treats your EIN as unchanged, though you should update your address on file with the IRS (Form 8822-B) once your Texas registered agent address is set.
All existing contracts, bank accounts, licenses, and pending liabilities carry over automatically — Texas's conversion statute treats the converted LLC as the same entity that existed under its home-state law, not a new one stepping into its shoes.
Do I Need to Close My LLC in My Old State?
No separate withdrawal filing is required in Texas. If your LLC was previously registered to do business in Texas as a foreign entity, BOC §9.012 automatically terminates that foreign registration once the conversion is effective — you don't need to file anything extra to close it out. What you owe your actual home state (dissolution, final filings) is that state's own requirement, separate from Texas's process.
If your business keeps operating in your old state after moving its legal home to Texas (an office, employees, or regular in-state activity there), you'll likely need to foreign-qualify in that state instead of maintaining it as your domestic entity — check the old state's foreign-qualification requirements once the Texas conversion is final.
When Do Texas's Taxes and Filings Start?
Texas's franchise tax and Public Information Report obligations begin as soon as the conversion is effective. Watch the franchise tax's no-tax-due revenue threshold ($2.65 million for the 2026 report year) closely in your first partial year: the Comptroller prorates that threshold based on how many days the entity actually existed in Texas during the period, so a fast-growing LLC converting mid-year can trip the lower, prorated threshold even if its annualized revenue would otherwise qualify for no-tax-due. Even entities that owe no tax must still file the Public/Ownership Information Report, due May 15.
You'll typically owe a final-year return to your old state covering the period before the conversion took effect, prorated to the conversion date — confirm the exact filing requirement with that state's tax agency, since this varies based on where your prior state was.
Texas requires a forward-looking Comptroller tax certification (Form 05-305, "Certificate of Account Status") under BOC §10.156 — not a backward-looking Certificate of Good Standing from your old state. It's easy to conflate the two; Texas's certificate confirms the new Texas entity is accepting franchise tax liability going forward, not that your old-state filings are current.
How to Move Your LLC to Texas Step by Step
If You Do It Yourself
Step 1 — Confirm your LLC is in good standing in its current state.
Texas doesn't require this document, but it's still worth confirming your LLC is current before filing.
Step 2 — Get member approval for the move.
Texas's BOC defers to your LLC's home-state law and its own governing documents rather than imposing a fixed Texas vote threshold — the conversion must be "approved as required by (1) the laws of the jurisdiction of formation and (2) the governing documents of the converting entity," so check both your operating agreement and your current state's LLC act.
Step 3 — File the domestication paperwork.
File with Texas Secretary of State using the Certificate of Conversion of a Foreign Entity Converting to a Texas Filing Entity, filed together with a Certificate of Formation, $600 total — $300 for the Certificate of Conversion plus $300 for the Certificate of Formation.
Step 4 — Confirm your EIN and contracts carry over.
No new EIN is needed. Texas's conversion statute continues the same legal entity — the IRS treats your EIN as unchanged, though you should update your address on file with the IRS (Form 8822-B) once your Texas registered agent address is set. All existing contracts, bank accounts, licenses, and pending liabilities carry over automatically — Texas's conversion statute treats the converted LLC as the same entity that existed under its home-state law, not a new one stepping into its shoes.
Step 5 — Appoint a registered agent in your new state.
Texas calls this role a "Registered Agent" — required before or as part of the domestication filing.
Step 6 — Handle your old state's final obligations.
No separate withdrawal filing is required in Texas. If your LLC was previously registered to do business in Texas as a foreign entity, BOC §9.012 automatically terminates that foreign registration once the conversion is effective — you don't need to file anything extra to close it out. What you owe your actual home state (dissolution, final filings) is that state's own requirement, separate from Texas's process. You'll typically owe a final-year return to your old state covering the period before the conversion took effect, prorated to the conversion date — confirm the exact filing requirement with that state's tax agency, since this varies based on where your prior state was.
Step 7 — Update your tax and compliance calendar.
Texas's franchise tax and Public Information Report obligations begin as soon as the conversion is effective. Watch the franchise tax's no-tax-due revenue threshold ($2.65 million for the 2026 report year) closely in your first partial year: the Comptroller prorates that threshold based on how many days the entity actually existed in Texas during the period, so a fast-growing LLC converting mid-year can trip the lower, prorated threshold even if its annualized revenue would otherwise qualify for no-tax-due. Even entities that owe no tax must still file the Public/Ownership Information Report, due May 15.
Step 8 — Watch for Texas-specific domestication traps.
The most common Texas-specific mistake is treating Form 05-305 as if it were a Certificate of Good Standing from your old state — it isn't. Texas's tax certificate is forward-looking (accepting Texas franchise tax liability going forward), not backward-looking proof that your old state's filings are current. The second common mistake is missing the franchise tax pro-ration trap in a first partial year.
If LLC Attorney Does It for You
- Submit your LLC's current-state details at llcattorney.com — name, formation date, and member information.
- LLC Attorney handles the domestication filing, obtains your Certificate of Good Standing, and serves as your registered agent in Texas once the move is complete.
- Receive confirmation of your completed move, plus access to flat-fee attorney consultations (no retainer) for any old-state wind-down questions.
When Should You Talk to an Attorney About Moving Your LLC to Texas?
Talk to an attorney or tax professional before converting your LLC to Texas if your business is approaching the no-tax-due revenue threshold and you're converting mid-year (the pro-ration can catch fast-growing businesses off guard), if your operating agreement or home-state law is unclear on conversion approval, or if you still hold an active Texas foreign registration you want confirmed as automatically terminated.
Is Texas a State Where Domestication Complexity Matters More?
Texas is more complex than most domestication destinations because of its franchise tax's revenue-based no-tax-due threshold and its first-partial-year pro-ration rule. An LLC that converts to Texas partway through the year and grows revenue quickly can unexpectedly owe franchise tax in its first year even though it would clear the threshold on a full 12-month basis — get your prorated threshold calculated correctly before assuming you owe nothing.
What You Actually Get With LLC Attorney's Texas Domestication Service
The part of Texas LLC conversion that trips people up isn't the paperwork — it's the Comptroller's forward-looking tax certification, which is easy to confuse with a backward-looking good-standing cert, and the franchise tax pro-ration rule for a first partial year. LLC Attorney gets both right from the start.
- LLC domestication to Texas, starting at $149.
- Certificate of Good Standing retrieval, filing prep, and registered agent service all handled in one order.
- Old-state withdrawal and final-tax-obligation guidance specific to your prior state — not a generic multi-state template.
- Access to professionally trained Business Success Advisors at no charge, plus flat-fee attorney consultations (no retainer) for move-specific questions.
Moving your LLC's legal home to Texas is straightforward once the conversion filing and tax certificate are both handled correctly — LLC Attorney makes sure nothing gets missed on either front, including your first-year franchise tax exposure.
Ready to Move Your LLC to Texas?
LLC Attorney handles the domestication filing for LLCs moving to Texas, starting at $149. See our full pricing for all service tiers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Texas's Business Organizations Code Chapter 10 (§§10.101-10.156) allows an out-of-state LLC to convert directly into a Texas LLC while retaining its original formation date. Texas calls this a "conversion," not a "domestication," though the effect is the same.
Yes. Converting to Texas preserves your LLC's original formation date, EIN, and contracts — only the home state changes, since Texas's conversion statute treats it as a continuation of the same entity rather than a new one.
$600 total — $300 for the Certificate of Conversion plus $300 for the new Certificate of Formation, since both documents are filed together. Expedited processing through Texas Express costs extra: $750/document same-day or $500/document next-business-day.
No. Your EIN stays the same — conversion continues the same legal entity rather than creating a new one. Update your address with the IRS via Form 8822-B once your Texas registered agent is set.
Texas doesn't require a separate withdrawal filing, and if your LLC previously held a Texas foreign registration, that registration terminates automatically once the conversion is effective. What you owe your actual former home state (dissolution, final returns) is a separate matter you handle under that state's own rules.
Texas's franchise tax and Public Information Report obligations start as soon as the conversion is effective. Watch the pro-rated no-tax-due threshold in your first partial year — the Comptroller shrinks the $2.65 million (2026) threshold based on how many days your entity existed in Texas during the period.
Texas defers to your operating agreement and your current home state's LLC law rather than imposing its own fixed vote threshold — the conversion must be approved under both.
About 2 weeks when filed online, or 4-8 weeks by mail. Texas's new Texas Express expedite service can bring this down to next-business-day or same-day for an added per-document fee.
Yes. LLC Attorney handles the domestication filing for LLCs moving to Texas, starting at $149.