Washington LLC filing: a $200 formation, a $70 annual report on your anniversary month, and the fee half the internet gets wrong

Every figure on this page comes from the Washington Secretary of State and the Washington Limited Liability Company Act. Not from an aggregator. Washington’s filing rules are straightforward with two things that trip people up: the annual report is due on your own formation anniversary month rather than one statewide date, and the fee most guides publish is wrong. The correct number is $70, and the reason so many sources say $60 is a lesson in why sourcing matters, which is where this page ends.

Forming the company

Formation is a single filing, on the higher side of state fees but paired with no income tax.

Washington forms an LLC on a Certificate of Formation filed with the Secretary of State for $200 online, or $180 by mail.

You create a Washington LLC by filing the Certificate of Formation with the Secretary of State’s Corporations and Charities Division, through the online Corporations and Charities Filing System or by mail, under RCW 25.15. The fee is $200 online and $180 by mail, one of the few states where mailing is cheaper than filing online. Washington calls the document a Certificate of Formation, like Delaware and Texas, rather than Articles of Organization. The LLC must name a registered agent with a physical Washington street address. Washington does not require newspaper publication.

There is a second filing that new owners miss.

Washington requires a separate initial report within 120 days of formation, free if filed with the Certificate and $10 on its own.

Within 120 days after formation, a Washington LLC must file an initial report confirming its governors and registered agent. There is no charge if it is submitted with the Certificate of Formation, and a small fee if filed separately. It is easy to overlook because it is distinct from both the Certificate and the annual report that follows.

The annual report, on your own schedule

Washington does not use a single statewide deadline, which is a feature and a trap.

Washington’s annual report is due by the last day of your formation anniversary month, so every LLC has its own deadline.

Every Washington LLC files an annual report with the Secretary of State, due by the last day of the month in which it was formed, which the state calls the expiration date. Form in March and the report is due every March 31; form in September and it is due every September 30. You can file up to 180 days early, and filing early does not move the date forward. Because the deadline is personal to each entity rather than a shared date, an owner with several LLCs has several deadlines, and the usual failure is losing track of one. Missing it adds a delinquency fee and, left unaddressed, leads toward administrative dissolution.

The fee is where the sourcing lesson lives.

The Washington annual report fee is $70, not the $60 that a large share of guides and even some mailers still publish.

The current fee is $70, set by the Secretary of State’s schedule and the governing regulation. A great deal of published guidance, and some official-looking mailers that reach business owners, still quote $60, because that was the correct figure until the state raised it and those sources never updated. A late filing adds a delinquency fee on top. Certain small LLCs that certify gross revenue under $500,000 qualify for a reduced fee; confirm the current reduced amount with the Secretary of State.

What you pay the state over time

The recurring filing cost is small, but the tax cost behind it is not the usual one.

The recurring state filing cost of a Washington LLC is the $70 annual report, because there is no franchise tax, though the B&O tax reaches the business separately.

Washington charges an LLC no franchise tax, so the $70 annual report is the recurring filing obligation. What is different from most states is that there is no income tax on the members and instead a gross-receipts B&O tax on the business itself, covered on the structure and cost page, so the meaningful ongoing cost is a tax on revenue rather than a state filing fee. A foreign LLC doing business in Washington registers with the Secretary of State and then files the same anniversary-month annual report as a domestic LLC.

Why the sourcing matters

One discipline runs under this page, and the annual-report fee is the live example.

A filing figure that most sources agree on can be most sources copying one outdated number, which is why every figure here traces to the state.

The $60 annual-report fee is the cleanest case on the site right now: it is published widely, it is wrong, and it is wrong because it was right until the state changed it. Fees and deadlines drift, and a number several sites share is often several copies of a single stale figure. Every figure on this page is dated, comes from the Washington Secretary of State or the LLC Act, and carries the verification date below. When a fee or rule changes, the fix is to read the state’s own schedule again.

The bottom line

A Washington LLC forms on a Certificate of Formation filed with the Secretary of State for $200 online or $180 by mail, with no publication required.

A separate initial report is due within 120 days of formation, free if filed with the Certificate.

The annual report is $70, not the $60 many guides still publish, and it is due by the last day of the formation anniversary month, a personal deadline for each entity.

There is no franchise tax, so the $70 report is the recurring filing cost, while the B&O gross-receipts tax reaches the business separately.

A foreign LLC operating in Washington registers with the Secretary of State and files the same anniversary-month annual report.

What this page does not cover

This page is about fees, forms, and deadlines. How creditors reach a member’s interest, the foreclosable charging order, and the county-median homestead are on the protection page. The default governance rules and the exposure of a membership interest are on the governance page. Where the entity lives, the missing series LLC, and the high transfer tax on entity sales are on the structure and cost page.

Last verified August 2026.