State guide · rules version 2026.08
Starting a nonprofit in Texas
Everything below is generated from the same Texas rules dataset that powers your guided journey in the platform — filing forms, real fees, and the traps DIY templates fall into.
Incorporation
- Filing
- Form 202 — Certificate of Formation, Nonprofit Corporation
- Agency
- Texas Secretary of State
- State fee
- $25 — never marked up by us
- Processing
- 3–5 business days online; longer by mail
- Expedite
- $25 per document (processed ahead of routine filings)
- Watch out
- Requires at least 3 directors.
- Form 202's default language does NOT include the IRS-required purpose and dissolution clauses — they must be added in the supplemental text area. This is the single most common Texas DIY failure.
Ongoing compliance
- Registered agent
- Must be a Texas resident or entity with a Texas street address; the org cannot serve as its own agent.
- Charitable registration
- Texas has no general charitable solicitation registration (narrow exceptions: law enforcement/public-safety-related and veterans solicitations).
- Annual report
- Periodic report only when requested by the Secretary of State (not more than once every 4 years)
- State tax exemption
- File Form AP-204 with the Texas Comptroller after receiving the IRS determination letter for franchise and sales tax exemption.
Or let the checklist do this for you
Your guided journey sequences every Texas step — with the federal track (EIN, bylaws, Form 1023) woven in at the right moments. From $499 flat.