Texas

Foreign registration · Form 301

Montana Corporation Foreign Registration in Texas

Texas registers a corporation from Montana as a foreign corporation on Form 301, with $767.13 in state fees and a $50 required expedite. Texas may ask for Montana's Certificate of Existence ($5). We file it with the Texas Secretary of State using your Montana records and act as your registered agent there for the first year.

What Montana and Texas each ask for

	Montana formed here	Texas registering here
Document	Montana Certificate of Existence	Form 301, Application for Registration of a Foreign For-Profit Corporation
State fee	$5	$767.13 at order (filing fee $750 plus charges collected at filing)
How it is handled	Montana: online	Filed with Texas
Required expedite		$50 at order (Texas Express)
Faster options		next-day $500, same-day $750
Office	Montana Secretary of State, Business Services	Texas Secretary of State
Official page	biz.sosmt.gov	sos.state.tx.us
Yearly filing	Annual Report, no fee, every year	Franchise Tax Report + Public Information Report, no fee, every year
Due	April 15	May 15 each year
Late yearly filing	$15 late fee	$50 late fee
Agent	Your Montana registered agent	Our Texas registered agent

How Montana companies register with Texas

We prepare and file Form 301
It lists us as your Texas registered agent, next to your Montana name and formation date. If Texas wants the Montana certificate, it is ordered first. After approval, your Montana corporation is registered with Texas.

Your Montana name and Texas's rules

Texas accepts your Montana name if it includes corporation, incorporated, company, limited, or an abbreviation of one of them. If Texas's records show it taken, you can use an alternate name for the Montana company. We check your exact Montana name against Texas's records before filing.

Your Texas agent and the Montana one

Montana and Texas both call it a registered agent. Texas papers come to us; Montana's agent is unchanged.

Yearly filings: Texas and Montana

Each year your corporation files Montana's Annual Report (no fee) and Texas's Franchise Tax Report + Public Information Report (no fee). With our $149 registered agent renewal, Montana plus Texas comes to $149 a year. Both states' filings stay current side by side.

LLC or corporation, Montana to Texas

An LLC formed in Montana files Form 304 with Texas ($767.13 in state fees and the $50 required expedite, the same; no home-state certificate is needed). After that come Montana's Annual Report ($20) and Texas's Public Information Report + Franchise Tax Report. See the LLC filing.

Registering a Texas company in Montana

A corporation formed in Texas that registers with Montana files Montana's registration (no form number) with $70 in state fees. See that filing.

Common questions: Montana to Texas

Does my Montana company need to register in Texas?

Yes, once a Montana business operates there; Texas registers it as a foreign corporation.

Is this a certificate of authority?

Texas calls it registration for Montana corporations; other states say certificate of authority.

How much does it cost to register a Montana corporation in Texas?

$1,016.13 at checkout, including the $50 required expedite; Texas may also want Montana's Certificate of Existence, at extra cost.

How long does the Texas registration take?

Typically 2 to 3 business days with Texas's required expedite, plus time for Montana's certificate if Texas asks for it. Faster state options: next-day $500, same-day $750.

What are the yearly costs for Montana and Texas?

$149 a year: our $149 registered agent renewal, nothing to Montana and nothing to Texas for the yearly reports.

Does Texas require a registered agent?

Yes: the Montana registered agent stays, and ours covers Texas for year one.

Will Texas accept my Montana name?

Yes, if no company there has it; if one does, it uses an alternate name there and keeps its Montana name at home. Texas names must include corporation, incorporated, company, limited, or an abbreviation of one of them.

Can I form a new Texas corporation instead?

Yes, but Montana keeps the original, so you run two companies: the new one files Texas's Franchise Tax Report + Public Information Report (no fee), and the original keeps Montana's Annual Report.

How do I withdraw from Texas later?

Montana companies leave by filing Form 608; until then, Texas's report stays due alongside Montana's filings.

Official sources

People also search

Corporation into Texas, by home state (48)

Montana into other states (41)

The same move for an LLC