Business Registers in Texas: Secretary of State (SOSDirect) & Comptroller of Public Accounts

Overview

Texas, as a U.S. state, maintains its own business entity register through the Texas Secretary of State (SOS). Unlike many European jurisdictions with centralized national registers, the United States operates a decentralized system where each state administers its own corporate registry. Texas is one of the most business-friendly states in the country, with no state corporate or personal income tax, making it a popular jurisdiction for company formation.

The Texas Secretary of State's office is the primary authority for entity registration and maintains records on corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), partnerships, and other business organizations formed or authorized to do business in the state. Financial statement filing obligations for private companies do not exist at the state level in the way they do in many other jurisdictions; there is no public repository of company accounts. Beneficial ownership information is handled at the federal level through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), not through the state register.

For KYB and AML professionals, Texas offers basic entity verification data through the Secretary of State, supplemented by tax status information from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Private companies file no public financial statements, and beneficial ownership is handled federally rather than at state level — both typical of US states and distinct from most European registers.

Official Registers

Texas Secretary of State — SOSDirect

The Texas Secretary of State maintains the official register of business entities through its online platform, SOSDirect. This is the primary register for all formally organized business entities in Texas, including corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships (LPs), limited liability partnerships (LLPs), professional associations, and foreign entities registered to do business in the state.

SOSDirect provides access to entity information including the legal name, filing number, entity type, formation or registration date, registered agent and office, management or officer details, and entity status. Users can also retrieve filed documents such as Certificates of Formation, amendments, and other statutory filings.

The platform charges a nominal fee of $1 per search for detailed filing information. Copies of formation documents and certificates can be ordered online or by contacting the Corporations section. The register is updated on an ongoing basis as filings are processed.

SOSDirect also provides access to Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings, which record security interests in personal property.

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — Taxable Entity Search

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts maintains a free, publicly accessible Taxable Entity Search that provides franchise tax account status information for businesses operating in Texas. This database is commonly used alongside SOSDirect to verify whether a business is in good standing from a tax perspective.

The Comptroller's database includes the entity's taxpayer number, entity name, state of formation, and franchise tax status (e.g., active, forfeited, or involuntarily terminated). This is not a corporate register, but Texas can administratively forfeit an entity's right to do business for failure to file franchise tax reports, making the Comptroller's tax status a useful check alongside the SOS register.

FinCEN — Beneficial Ownership Information (Federal)

Beneficial ownership reporting in the United States is governed at the federal level under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which took effect on January 1, 2024. The CTA requires certain entities — referred to as "reporting companies" — to file beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

A reporting company must disclose information about each beneficial owner who directly or indirectly exercises substantial control over the entity or owns or controls at least 25% of its ownership interests.

Following an interim final rule issued in March 2025, FinCEN exempted all U.S.-domestic entities and U.S. persons from BOI reporting. The obligation now applies only to certain foreign companies registered to do business in the U.S. that do not qualify for one of the enumerated exemptions (covering large operating companies, regulated financial institutions, tax-exempt entities, and others).

The BOI database maintained by FinCEN is not publicly accessible; it is available only to authorized government agencies and, under certain conditions, to financial institutions with customer consent. There is no public UBO register for U.S. entities equivalent to those found in EU member states.

Registration and Publication Requirements

Corporations and LLCs

All Texas corporations (for-profit and nonprofit) and LLCs must file a Certificate of Formation with the Secretary of State. Foreign entities (those formed in another state or country) must register by filing an application for registration before transacting business in Texas.

Texas does not require an annual report filing in the traditional sense. Instead, entities must file annual Franchise Tax Reports with the Comptroller of Public Accounts, along with either a Public Information Report (PIR) or an Ownership Information Report (OIR), depending on entity type. These filings serve a similar function to annual returns in other jurisdictions. Many small businesses and sole proprietorships are exempt from the franchise tax if revenue falls below the applicable threshold.

Financial statements: There is no obligation for private companies to file financial statements with any state authority, and no public repository of company accounts exists at the state level. Financial disclosure is limited to what is required by tax authorities and is not publicly accessible.

Beneficial ownership: Under the federal CTA, most LLCs and corporations formed or registered in Texas are considered reporting companies and must file BOI reports with FinCEN, subject to certain exemptions (e.g., large operating companies, publicly traded companies, and certain regulated entities).

Sole Traders (Sole Proprietorships)

Sole proprietorships in Texas are not registered with the Secretary of State. A sole proprietorship forms automatically when an individual begins conducting business, and no formal legal documents or state filings are required to establish one. If a sole proprietor operates under a name other than their legal name, they may file an assumed name certificate (DBA) with the county clerk.

Sole proprietors are not required to file financial statements publicly and are generally exempt from franchise tax obligations. They may obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS for tax purposes. Local business licenses or permits may be required depending on the nature and location of the business.

Nonprofit Corporations and Associations

Nonprofit corporations in Texas must file a Certificate of Formation with the Secretary of State and are subject to ongoing reporting requirements. The Secretary of State may request an informational report (Form 802) not more than once every four years. Nonprofits that obtain federal tax-exempt status must file IRS Form 990 annually, portions of which are publicly available.

Under the Texas Business Organizations Code, certain nonprofit corporation records must be available for public inspection, and failure to maintain or produce required financial records may constitute a Class B misdemeanor.

Unincorporated associations do not typically appear in the Secretary of State's register unless they take a specific legal form requiring filing.

Summary Table

With Topograph

Topograph provides access to Texas business entity data through two complementary sources: the Texas Comptroller's Franchise Tax database and the Texas Secretary of State's SOSDirect platform.

Available Data

Company Profile

Onboarding profile (sourced from the Texas Comptroller Franchise Tax database — fast, non-authoritative):

• Legal name and taxpayer number
• Entity type and state of formation
• Formation date
• Registered agent name and address
• Entity status (active, forfeited, involuntarily terminated)
• Establishments (locations) associated with the entity
• Activity codes (NAICS, inferred from Comptroller data)

Authoritative profile (sourced from SOSDirect — authoritative):

• All fields above, with authoritative entity status from the SOS register

Note: Sole proprietorships are not registered with the Secretary of State. Texas sole traders who hold a Sales Tax permit are accessible via the Comptroller's Sales Tax system as a distinct entity type, with basic profile and permit details available.

Legal Representatives

Officers and directors sourced from Public Information Report filings (Comptroller, onboarding tier — titles truncated to approximately 10 characters as filed) and from the Secretary of State SOSDirect (authoritative tier — full titles as filed).

Shareholders and beneficial ownership data are not available; Texas does not collect ownership or UBO information at the state level.

Available Documents

Financial statements and UBO extracts are not available: private company accounts are not filed publicly in Texas, and the federal FinCEN BOI database is restricted to government agencies and financial institutions.

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