Form an LLC · WA

How to form an LLC in Washington

Washington LLCs are formed by filing a Certificate of Formation with the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division — the official filing fee is $180 (see the fee notes below). Corpus prepares and files it for $320 all-in, including your first year of registered-agent service.

Form your Washington LLC

What Washington requires

Formation document
Certificate of Formation verified 2026-09-24
Filing office
Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division verified 2026-09-24
Washington filing fee for the Certificate of Formation
$180 Certificate of Formation (fee-schedule original filing; online instructions also mention an unstated online processing fee). verified 2026-09-30
  • Optional: $30 reservation of name (optional). source
  • The fee schedule lists LLC original filings at $180; the online instructions say that fee is in addition to an online processing fee whose amount they do not state. source · source 2
Online filing
Yes — A domestic Washington LLC can be formed online through the Secretary of State’s portal. verified 2026-09-24
Standard processing time
The fee schedule states expedited service generally within three working days and a same-day in-person option; it does not state a standard formation turnaround in days. verified 2026-09-30
Expedited options
Expedited service $100 (per business entity, generally within three working days); Same-day service $150 (per business entity, in person) verified 2026-09-30
  • Both the LLC fee schedule and the online certificate instructions state a $100 expedite; the schedule also states a $150 same-day fee. source · source 2
Name requirement
Must contain “Limited Liability Company,” “Limited Liability Co.,” “L.L.C.,” or “LLC.” verified 2026-09-24
Registered agent
Required — A Washington LLC must continuously maintain a registered agent in the state. verified 2026-09-24
LLC statute
Washington Limited Liability Company Act, RCW chapter 25.15 verified 2026-09-24

What you’ll need

The Corpus intake collects this information to prepare the filing. Some questions are asked only when they apply — for example, the management question is asked only when the company has more than one owner.

  • What do you want to name the company?
  • In a sentence, what will the business actually do?
  • Where should official mail go — street, city, state, ZIP?
  • What email should we use for this order?
  • Which industry code fits this business?
  • Besides you, will anyone else have authority to make decisions for the business?
  • Who owns this company?

Washington asks nothing beyond the standard questions.

What it costs with Corpus

State fees (filing fee + the state's processing charges)
$200
Registered agent, year one
$100
Corpus service
$20
Total at checkout
$320

$200 = Washington’s $180 in formation fees for an online filing + $20 of other state processing charges for the way Corpus files (expedite, card or online-portal fees).

Registered agent renews at $99/yr after the included first year — cancel anytime. Itemized pricing for every state is on the price grid; how Corpus compares to other formation services is on the comparison page.

After you form: staying in good standing

Annual report
Annual report — due by the last day of the month in which the business was first formed; may be filed within 180 days before that date. verified 2026-09-30
  • The annual-report instructions say the $70 profit-entity fee, including LLCs, includes an online processing fee. source · source 2 · source 3
Report fee
$70 (profit entities including LLC; the online instructions say this fee includes an online processing fee) verified 2026-09-30
  • Conditional: $25 delinquency addition (additional fee if status is listed as Delinquent; nonprofit miscellaneous, mutual, and corporation sole do not have this fee). source
Franchise or privilege tax
Only if the LLC conducts Washington business generating gross receipts or income subject to B&O tax. verified 2026-09-30
  • Rates, caps, thresholds, apportionment and exemptions: see Washington Department of Revenue. B&O is measured on gross receipts rather than net profit. source · source 2

Comparing what registered-agent service costs after year one across providers? The comparison page publishes renewal prices.

Form it with your AI agent

You don’t have to do the intake here. Any agent that can open a link can run the whole thing — Corpus’s formation tools give it Washington’s requirements and live price, it asks you the questions above, and it hands back a prefilled link you review and pay. Paste this into your assistant:

Form an LLC in Washington for me with Corpus (corpuslaw.us). Use its formation tools to get Washington's requirements and price, ask me what you need, and give me the prefilled link.

The guide is on /agents, the protocol reference is /docs/mcp, and the installable skill for this state is the Washington SKILL.md.

Sources

Every verified fact above names where Corpus read it and the date it was last verified. Sources marked secondary are third-party write-ups used only where an official page did not publish the answer.

Corpus is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Fees and rules change — each verified fact above shows the date Corpus last verified it; anything marked “not yet verified” should be confirmed with the filing office.