Updated August 10, 2026. Quick answer. Forming an LLC in Washington costs $180 to file, and an ongoing report requirement ($70). Five-year total: $530 over five years, every component verified.
What it actually costs
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Formation filing fee | $180 |
| Annual/biennial report | $70 |
| Franchise / minimum tax | No franchise or minimum entity tax; B&O gross-receipts tax applies instead, plus a state business licence |
| Publication requirement | No newspaper publication requirement was found. |
Five-year cost of ownership: $530 over five years, every component verified. Publication cost is excluded from this figure — it’s county-driven where it applies, not state-driven, so a single number would be wrong for most filers.
Expedited filing: $100 expedited (about three working days); $150 same-day
The trap worth knowing before you file
SOS fees read from the agency’s own fee schedule, which itself cites WAC 434-112-085(7) as the authority for the $70 annual report — administrative-code basis noted but the WAC text was not separately fetched. Business-licence figures from https://dor.wa.gov/node/134 (linked from https://dor.wa.gov/open-business/apply-business-license, which itself only says the fee ‘varies’). B&O description from https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/business-occupation-tax. https://www.sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/business-entities/fees 404s; the working path is the FAQ fee-schedule page above.
Source
RCW 25.15 (LLC Act); WAC 434-112-080 and WAC 434-112-085 (fees; annual report fee at WAC 434-112-085(7)); WA SOS fee schedule. Read 2026-08-06 from official. Formation-service sites were not used as a source for this figure.
Once the LLC exists, an operating agreement is what actually runs it
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If the LLC already exists somewhere else
Everything above prices forming a new Washington LLC. A company that already exists in another state cannot become a Washington one: Washington is one of the eight jurisdictions with no jurisdiction-change route in either direction, and the article that would carry it does not reach an LLC by its own terms (RCW 25.15.436(1)). The substitute is a merger — form a Washington LLC, then merge the older company into it, under RCW 25.15.416 to 25.15.431. A merger produces a surviving entity rather than a continuation, so it is genuinely not the same thing as domestication, but it keeps far more alive than dissolving and re-forming does.
How to Move an LLC to Another State · LLC Domestication by State: All 51 Jurisdictions, With the Statute
What a lapse costs in Washington. The Secretary of State charges a $140 penalty plus $70 for each annual report year you missed, plus the current year’s renewal — and the statute leaves those amounts to agency rule. See reinstating a Washington LLC.
Moving an LLC you already own is a different question from what it costs to form a new one here: Washington has no statute that lets an out-of-state LLC become a Washington LLC while staying the same entity, and the route that works is a merger. See why you cannot move an LLC to Washington, and the merger route.
Looking for the annual-report due date and fee instead? See Washington LLC annual report.
Related: Washington’s registered agent requirements, including who can serve and what happens if you don’t have one.
Related: Washington’s LLC Certificate of Good Standing cost, including who issues it and how fast you can get one.