Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: a dissolved Washington corporation reinstates by filing Reinstatement (filed online via the WA Corporations & Charities Filing System; the statute does not give it a separate proper-noun title) under RCW 23.95.615 (Washington Uniform Business Organizations Code), governing reinstatement of a domestic profit corporation administratively dissolved under RCW 23.95.610, but only within 5 years of dissolution.
If you’d rather have the reinstatement filed for you
Bizee can prepare and file the Washington reinstatement paperwork described above on your behalf. State filing fees and any back taxes owed are separate, and you pay those directly either way.
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The filing, and what Washington calls it
A domestic for-profit corporation administratively dissolved by the WA Secretary of State (e.g., for failing to file an Annual Report or maintain a registered agent) files a Reinstatement online through the SOS Corporations & Charities Filing System. The filing must show the corporate name still satisfies naming requirements (or be accompanied by a name amendment), the effective dissolution date, and confirmation the dissolution grounds have been cured, plus payment of accrued fees and a penalty. Once approved, reinstatement relates back to the dissolution date.
How long you have to reinstate
Washington does not let a dissolved corporation reinstate forever. You have just 5 years from the dissolution or revocation date; miss it and the only path back is forming a new entity from scratch, losing the original formation date and history. A Reinstatement may be filed within 5 years from the date of Administrative Dissolution to return to active status. (RCW 23.95.615(1))
What you must pay before it goes through
Washington will not reinstate the corporation until every year it sat delinquent is paid for. $70 per missed Annual Report year plus a flat $140 penalty fee, plus the current year’s renewal fee. (RCW 23.95.615(2))
Whether your name is still yours
Your original name is not guaranteed to still be yours. The online system checks name availability live; if the name shows Not Available, a Business Name Amendment must be filed and approved before the Reinstatement can process. Check Washington’s business-name database before assuming the reinstatement filing will go through under the old name. (RCW 23.95.615(1) (referencing RCW 23.95.300))
What the filing costs
$70 per missed Annual Report year plus a flat $140 penalty fee (optional +$100 expedite); no single dollar figure applies to every filer.
What this page does not answer
Reinstating the entity at the state level and squaring things up with the IRS are two separate processes. Late federal returns, penalty abatement requests, and reinstating a lapsed EIN’s associated accounts are governed by federal law, not by Washington’s corporation statute, and this page does not source them. We have the state-filing answer at primary and the federal-cleanup answer not at all.
This page covers a for-profit business corporation. If you are reinstating an LLC in Washington instead, the filing, fee and statute are different: see reinstating an LLC in Washington.
Sources
Every citation on this page is statutory or the Secretary of State’s own official filing instructions. No formation service, no registered-agent marketing page and no aggregator is cited anywhere in this cluster as a source of law; those are the only publishers of the competing versions.
- RCW 23.95.615 statute text: https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=23.95.615
- WA SOS official Return a Business to Active Status page: https://www.sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/business-entities/return-business-active-status