Texas Registered Agent
Just $25 a Year, Every Year
Your Texas registered agent is your company’s official legal contact with the state. Appointing a registered agent might not seem like a big deal, but making the right choice is important to avoid missing a time-sensitive legal notice.
If you serve as your own agent, you may be putting your privacy at risk by listing your home address on your formation documents, which become public record.
The best way to protect your privacy as a Texas business owner is to hire a Texas registered agent service. The best way to save money on registered agent service is to hire us.
Registered Agent Service
$25 per year
- Austin Business Address for Privacy
- Secure Online Account for Document Storage
- Same-Day Scans & Instant Notifications
- Hundreds of Free State and Legal Forms
- Renewal Service Enrollment for PIR & Franchise Tax Report
- Lifetime Customer Service from Real Texans
- Easily Add Company Formation, DBA Filing, & More
What Is a Texas Registered Agent?
For many business owners, the first time they encounter the term “registered agent” is on their company formation paperwork. If that’s you, you’ve probably been wondering what exactly a registered agent is and why you need to have one.
What does a registered agent do?
A registered agent is essentially a go-between who receives legal and state documents on behalf of your business and then makes sure those documents get to you. This includes service of process (lawsuits), legal summons, and Secretary of State notices.
Why do I need a registered agent?
Designating a registered agent during company formation and maintaining an agent for the life of your company is legally required in Texas (see Texas Business Organizations Code Sec. § 5.201). This requirement applies to domestic Texas LLCs and corporations, as well as out-of-state LLCs and out-of-state corporations that do business in Texas.
On a practical level, having a registered agent makes sure that the state is always able to deliver critical legal and state documents to your company and that you receive those documents in a timely manner.
What Happens if My Company
Doesn’t Have a Registered Agent?
If you don’t appoint a registered agent on your Certificate of Formation, the Secretary of State will reject your filing.
If you let your registered agent service lapse, you may face a range of negative consequences:
- You could miss or receive important notices late. If you’re sued and don’t receive the legal summons in time to respond, the judge may rule in favor of the plaintiff by default.
- You could lose your good standing with the state. This might prevent you from bringing lawsuits against the state, registering to do business in other states, and procuring necessary funds through grants or loans.
- Your company may be subject to fines and additional penalties for non-compliance. Depending on how long you’ve been non-compliant, the consequences will vary.
Choosing Your Registered Agent
When it comes to deciding who your registered agent will be, you have several options. For the most part, business owners either choose to serve as their own registered agent or to hire a registered agent service.
What are the Registered Agent Requirements in Texas?
You are allowed to appoint an individual or a company that provides registered agent service as your registered agent. All registered agents must have a physical street address in Texas where they are available to receive document deliveries during regular business hours.
Individuals must:
- Be 18 or older.
- Be a resident of the state of Texas.
- Consent to be the company’s registered agent.
Registered agent companies must:
- Be authorized to provide registered agent service in Texas.
- Have a Texas office where they can receive service of process.
- Consent to be the company’s registered agent.
You absolutely can be your company’s registered agent in Texas. However, there are some drawbacks. First, you’ll need to include your name and address (must be an actual street address in Texas) on the Certificate of Formation. Be aware that this information goes on the public record and will be easy to find online.
Also, a registered agent is expected to be available during regular business hours in case they need to accept service of process in person. This can be very inconvenient for business owners who work nontraditional hours, travel for work, or just want to take a vacation once in a while.
Why Use a Registered Agent Service?
Privacy
Information you share on the Certificate of Formation and Public Information Report will be made publicly available. If you appoint yourself as your company’s registered agent, this could mean having to put your home address on the public record. Anyone will be able to look up your business on the TX Franchise Tax Account Status Search and find your address. When you hire a registered agent service, their address will be listed publicly as the registered office address, not yours.
When you choose Texas Virtual Office as your registered agent, we also let you use our registered office address for your members’, managers’, or directors’ addresses. That way, you won’t need to share your personal address anywhere on public forms.
Convenience
A registered agent is required to be available to accept documents during normal business hours all year long. If you act as your own agent or designate one of your employees, you’re putting yourself at risk of missing an important legal summons if you go on a business trip, take a long lunch on a slow day, or even just run out for an errand.
With a registered agent service, someone is always on hand and ready to receive documents, so you never have to worry about missing a delivery. And with our service, you can view your documents from anywhere using your secure online account, so you have the freedom to work where you want.
Professionalism
No business owner expects to be sued, but you never know. If your home or place of business is listed as your registered agent address, someone serving you with a lawsuit could show up there, without warning. Receiving a lawsuit in front of your customers or neighbors would not only be embarrassing, but could hurt your professional reputation.
You can avoid the awkwardness by using a registered agent service. If you hire us, your state and legal notices will be delivered to us and then confidentially forwarded to your online account, where you can view them in private.
Compliance
Appointing an individual to act as your registered agent can be dicey. You might think it’s fine to appoint an employee or your uncle Earl as your registered agent, but if they don’t forward a legal summons to you in a timely manner, you could end up saddled with fines and penalties. By using an experienced registered agent service, you can trust that your registered agent is always there for you and fulfilling their legal obligations.
Additionally, some services—like us—help you stay on top of your annual compliance filings, like the Public Information Report and Franchise Tax Report, so you don’t miss the deadline and risk having your company dissolved.
How Our Registered Agent Service Works
Get local, personalized registered agent service for only $25 a year. That’s the best deal in Texas.
1
Hire us
To appoint us as your registered agent, hire us before forming your company. You’ll need to designate your registered agent on your Certificate of Formation.
Once you sign up, your registered agent service begins instantly. You’ll be directed to log into your new client account, and you’ll receive an email containing our registered agent information so you can file your Certificate of Formation.
Note: If you’d like us to file your Certificate of Formation for you, order Company Formation service rather than Registered Agent service.
2
Form your company
File your Certificate of Formation and list us as your registered agent.
You can also list our registered agent address for your members’, managers’, or directors’ addresses, in order to keep your personal address completely off the public record.
3
You get Renewal Service enrollment
As your registered agent, we offer Renewal Service for your Public Information Report and/or Franchise Tax Report filing.
We’ll email you reminders in advance of your PIR/Franchise Tax Report deadline. Then, we’ll file your report(s) for you, so you never need to worry about forgetting the deadline.
Renewal Service costs $100 plus any state fees or taxes you owe. If you don’t want this service, simply cancel Renewal Service in your client account.
4
Your service renews annually
After 365 days of being your registered agent, your service will auto-renew for another $25. That’s our regular annual rate, not an “introductory” rate which will triple or quadruple the next year.
Get More Support for Your
Small Business
Check out everything Texas Virtual Office has to offer
Company Formation
$435
TOTAL*
- Fast, Accurate Certificate of Formation Filing
- Austin Business Address for Privacy
- Year of Registered Agent Service (then $25/yr)
- Attorney-Drafted Operating Agreement or Bylaws
- PIR & Franchise Tax Renewal Service Enrollment
*Includes State Fees
Foreign Registration
$125
+ state fees
- Fast, Accurate Foreign Registration Filing
- Austin Business Address for Privacy
- Year of Registered Agent Service (then $25/yr)
- PIR & Franchise Tax Report Reminders
- PIR & Franchise Tax Renewal Service Enrollment
Mail Scanning
$49+
/year
- Austin Address w/ Unique Suite Number
- Same-Day Mail Scans to Secure Account
- Junk Mail Filtering
- Multiple Mail Scanning Options
- Physical Forwarding Available Upon Request
Virtual Office Service
$15
/month
- Austin Address w/ Unique Suite Number
- Unlimited Mail Scanning to Secure Account
- VoIP Phone Service w/ Local Phone Number
- Non-Binding Monthly Office Lease
- Option to Rent Conference Rooms in Austin
Registered Agent Service FAQ
All business entities that need to file with the TX Secretary of State (such as LLCs, corporations, and non-profits) are required by law to have a registered agent for as long as the business is operating. This includes foreign (out-of-state) business entities that register to do business in Texas, as well as domestic business entities.
If you don’t care about having your address on the public record, being served lawsuits at home or in front of customers, or possibly missing document deliveries while you’re on vacation or traveling for work, serving as your own registered agent can save you a few bucks.
But if you want to keep your address private and never risk missing an important legal summons, we highly recommend hiring a registered agent service. We provide local, expert registered agent service in Texas for just $25 a year. That’s only about $2 a month.
We scan and upload all of your state and legal documents to your client account the same day they’re received. You’ll get an instant email notification that you have a new document to view. Just log in to your online account and view them wherever you are.
Any obvious junk mail that arrives for your business is automatically shredded, not uploaded to your account.
Run Your Business from Anywhere
Registered Agent + Virtual Office Service