Texas Business Entity Search: Comptroller & SOSDirect
Choose the Texas service that answers your question. The Comptroller search checks franchise-tax account status; SOSDirect provides Secretary of State business filing and record services.
Official website: comptroller.texas.gov · Opens in a new tab
Need Secretary of State records?
Secretary of State filing records and document services; review the service’s account and fee requirements.
Open Texas SOSDirect ↗How to search Texas business records
Choose one identifier
On the Comptroller form, use an entity name, an 11-digit taxpayer number, a 9-digit federal EIN, or a Texas Secretary of State file number.
Check the field format and submit
The name field accepts 2–50 characters. The SOS file-number field accepts 6–10 digits. Enter the identifier in its corresponding field and select Submit.
Match the entity before relying on status
Compare the returned business with the name and identifier you intended to search. For Secretary of State filing records or document services, use the separate SOSDirect link.
What to watch for
A franchise-tax account search and a Secretary of State filing search answer different questions. Check what a lender or other recipient actually requires before substituting a search result for a certificate.
Walkthrough sources · Checked
Texas search options and record coverage
Texas SOSDirect and the Comptroller's taxable-entity search provide public entity-name and file-number searches, status, registered agent/office, filing history, assumed names, and available certificates/documents. SOSDirect is the filing engine; tax reports and public-information reports are filed separately through Comptroller Webfile.
Checking a business name in Texas
Texas requires a name to be distinguishable in the Secretary's records from domestic/foreign filing entities, foreign fictitious names, reservations, and registrations. A name cannot imply an unauthorized business or false government affiliation. Punctuation, capitalization, spacing, and designators do not automatically cure similarity, and preliminary clearance is not a final determination or trademark license.
Texas name reservations
Texas name reservation uses SOSDirect and the applicable Business Organizations Code fee schedule; the reviewed official instructions did not expose one reservation amount in the accessible extract. The name must be distinguishable from existing filing entities, fictitious names, reservations, and registrations; preliminary clearance is not final approval or trademark permission.
DBA, trade names, and fictitious names
Texas assumed-name certificates are filed with the Secretary of State through Form 503 and cost $25. For corporations, LLCs, LPs, LLPs, and other foreign filing entities, the state filing replaced the former county-level requirement for the entity's assumed name; begin at https://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/forms_boc.shtml.
What do you need after the search?
- Official proof of standing — find certificate fees and ordering instructions.
- A missed report or inactive registration — check deadlines and reinstatement rules.
- A new business registration — compare Texas formation and filing fees.