How to Start an LLC in Washington (WA LLC 2024)

How to Start an LLC in Washington State: If you’re looking to start a Washington State LLC, you’ve come to the right page. Setting up an LLC is easy and cost-effective. To form an LLC, you must follow a few steps that include naming your LLC, hiring a registered agent, filing your formation documents, doing the operating agreement, and finally obtaining the EIN. You can easily set up your LLC at a very low cost in Washington State. Though, you must pay the mandatory state filing fee. These fees and charges can be tax deductible, making the LLC formation cost almost negligible.

On this page, You’ll find all the steps that must be taken to ensure that your Washington State LLC has been correctly formed. We recommend you read the whole article very carefully, word by word, don’t miss anything 🙂

How to Start an LLC in Washington State

An LLC (aka Limited Liability Company) is a hybrid business entity combining a corporation’s characteristics with a partnership or sole proprietorship. It separates your personal assets from your business assets, thus giving you personal asset protection. For an LLC, members’ personal assets are not affected by business debts. However, in some cases, if the LLC is sued for business debts, courts might pierce the corporate veil and use the owner’s personal assets to meet their corporate liabilities.

If you wish to start an LLC in Washington State, you must file your Certificate of Formation with the State and pay a filing fee of $200 (online and $180 by mail). While it’s the most important step, it’s not the only one. There are 4 other crucial steps to follow to get your LLC formed in Washington. Below are all 5 steps that explain everything you need to do to start a Washington State LLC in 2024. Let’s get started! You can always hire a professional LLC formation service in Washington State to set up your LLC instead of doing it alone; a Pro service will ensure everything is done properly.

Step 1: Decide a Name for Your Washington State LLC

The first step while forming a limited liability company in Washington state is to give a proper name to your LLC. Before you name your business, you must know that the name should be easy to remember, available in the state, and follows all the LLC naming guidelines.

Washington State LLC Naming Guidelines

There are a few specific requirements all the LLCs in Washington State must follow while naming their Company. Some of the most important requirements are as follows:

• “Limited Liability Company”, “Limited Liability Co.”, “LLC”, and “L.L.C.” – any one of these has to be used as a suffix in your business name.
• You cannot use any name for your business that is confusing or misleading. Terms such as “Treasury”, “State Department”, “FBI”, “CIA”, etc. shouldn’t be included.
• Terms like “Bank“, “University“, “Attorney“, “Doctor“, etc can be added only after the additional requirements by Washington State Government are fulfilled.
• (Optional) It’s better to name your business something for which your desired domain is available.

Important Links –	Submit Offline Form to –
Washington State Business Entity Search – Online Name Search Name Reservation Form – PDF Name Availability Standards – Guidelines Washington State LLC Name Search – Instructions	Secretary of State Corporation Division 801 Capitol Way S P.O. Box 40234 Olympia, Washington 98504-0234

Reserve Business Name for Future

If you do not wish to file your LLC right now but want to hold the name you have decided on, then you can reserve your LLC name for 180 days. To keep the name, you must file a name reservation application and pay $30 to reserve your name with the Washington State Secretary of State. By paying $50, you can expedite the process.

Doing Business As (DBA) or Trade Name

Once you have a legal name for your LLC, you can register it. However, it is not mandatory. You can, instead, use DBA, Fictitious Name, or Trade Name. In that case, you must register your name with the Washington State Secretary of State by submitting an Application to Register Trade Name in Washington State along with the filing fee of $24.

Apart from LLC formation, ZenBusiness offers customized website templates and business emails at a very reasonable price. If you plan to get a website, then it is wise to have a “.com” domain for your business, but these days you can also use other TLDs like “.io”, “.company”, “.xyz,” etc. Here you can get everything you need for your business in one dashboard.

Step 2: Assign a Registered Agent in Washington State

The second step to forming an LLC in Washington State is to appoint a Registered Agent. A registered agent is a person or business entity working on your LLC’s behalf. This person or business will receive important tax forms, legal documents, all notices of lawsuits, and other official government correspondence in Washington State. Hence, hiring a competent Washington Registered Agent for your LLC is necessary.

Make sure your registered agent is a resident of Washington State or has a physical street address. This address will be used as the principal address of your LLC to receive any legal documents. Most LLC formation companies also provide registered agent services. Below are two great LLC formation services; even if you buy their cheapest plan (normally $0), you also get registered agent service and other services at a very reasonable price.

These two are our top recommendations for registered agent service, as they are competent and authorized to conduct business in Washington State. Some LLC formation services also offer standalone Washington State registered agent services. You can purchase only Registered Agent services without purchasing any other LLC formation services. This standalone service might become handy if you are doing it yourself and don’t want to disclose your home address or you don’t want to pierce the corporate veil.

Registered Agent Consent Application

In Washington State, there is no separate Consent Letter to be produced to the Secretary of State. At the time of change of Registered Agent (or the name or address), the new Registered Agent has to sign the consent letter. It comes with the Application form to Change the Registered Agent. There is no filing fee to be paid for it. For more information on the same, read our guide on Washington State Registered Agent.

Step 3: File Certificate of Formation in Washington State

The third and most important step in forming a Washington State LLC is to file the Certificate of Formation. This Washington State Certificate of Formation is a legal document that is required to register your business with the Washington State Secretary of State. It costs $200 (online and $180 by mail) to file your formation certificate in Washington State.

The Certificate of Formation includes details like the name of the LLC, the registered agent’s name, address, employees’ details, and the company’s structure (member-managed or manager-managed). Before hiring employees in Washington State LLC, one should know the rules and regulations thoroughly. Also, if you are expanding your existing business (an LLC) in other states to Washington State, you must register as a Washington State Foreign LLC.

Processing Time: Normally, it takes around 7 business days (approx) to get your LLC formed in Washington State. The processing time for online filing might be a little faster than offline filing. With an additional cost, you can get expedited filing as well. However, the document processing time can be changed due to various factors.

Every LLC owner has to pay the filing fees to register their business in Washington State. This fee is mandatory but also tax deductible. If you’re doing it yourself (filing on your own), it will not cost you any additional service fee. However, it is not feasible to do that as the DIY process might be delayed, complicated, and messy, especially if you’re a novice entrepreneur. Hence, it is recommended to get professional guidance to get your LLC formed in Washington State.

Step 4: Create Your Washington State LLC Operating Agreement

Moving on to the fourth step, filing your operating agreement. An operating agreement is a document that legally outlines the proprietorship and operating procedures of your LLC. This document is vital as it ensures that all business owners are on the same page regarding how they operate, thus reducing future conflicts.

When it comes to filing a Washington State LLC Operating Agreement, the state does not require you to have a comprehensive operating agreement, but it is ideal to have one that contains all the details of your business operation that helps in taking future business decisions, especially if you decide to dissolve Washington State LLC later. Hence, having an operating agreement may not be necessary, but it is surely ideal.

The operating agreement draft can be created for free if you don’t hire a professional. However, there is an advantage to appointing a proficient person/service. You will get a businesslike quality operating agreement at a very cheap fee, which will help you in the future. Hiring a professional service means you can sleep well at night 🙂

Step 5: Filing a Washington State LLC EIN

The Employer Identification Number (aka EIN) is a nine-digit number given by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to make it easier to identify the type of business for tax purposes and taxes in general. The EIN is necessary for any active business or any form of business.

An EIN number in Washington is needed when the LLC hires employees. Hiring employees in Washington State LLC requires following specific rules and regulations. On the other side, EIN for Washington State foreign LLC should be obtained if your LLC is based in other states.

To obtain EIN (aka FEIN), one must fill up a form (Online or by mail) and submit it to the IRS. Enter details of your LLC, and finally, complete the form and send it to the address given. You can also get an EIN Assistant to help you with the process.

Mail to: Internal Revenue Service, Attn: EIN Operation, Cincinnati, OH 45999

Fax: (855) 641-6935 | Fee: Free

Note: You don’t need a Social Security number when getting an EIN. You can proceed to fill out I.R.S. Form SS-4 and leave section 7b blank. You must then call the IRS at (267) 941-1099 to complete your application. Agents or employees will help you with that.

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Congratulations, you are now done with all the necessary steps to form your Limited Liability Company in Washington State. If you do it yourself, it should take you a long time to understand and do all the steps properly.

However, if you use ZenBusiness, it should be way faster. You will always have a live chat option and phone support with experts for any help you need. Their worry-free service will make things easier for you.

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After Starting Your Washington LLC

After forming your LLC, there are still some things that you will need. The most important thing is to separate your business and personal assets. LLCs have limited liability protection that protects your personal assets from business liability. This is called a corporate veil. However, the corporate veil can be lifted or pierced by the court if the LLC is sued. In that case, the owners of the LLC become personally liable for their corporate debts. A few things like appointing a legit registered agent, having enough capital, and filing all the major documents with the state can save the LLCs from being pierced into the corporate veil.

Apart from that, there are a few things you need to take note of,

• Get a company business bank account
• File Washington State business permits & licenses
• Get general liability insurance and professional liability insurance with coverage for employees.
• File a Washington State LLC annual report or biennial report

This page has provided you with steps to LLC formation and filing processes. You now have to remember upcoming filing deadlines and filing fees or filing costs, including fees for late filings to make sure your LLC is up-to-date.

The LLC formation processing time in Washington is 5-6 weeks if filing offline (by mail). The process takes 10-14 business days if filed online. Check how long it takes to form an LLC to know about the tentative timelines.

Cost of Washington State LLC

LLCs can be formed by spending very less price. Apart from the mandatory state filing fees, you don’t have to bear additional service charges if you do it yourself. Following are the fees and taxes LLCs in Washington State must pay to register and run a business in the state. Forming an LLC is no doubt cost-effective compared to other business structures. However, the fees and charges (tax-deductible) that you must pay to the state, such as name reservation fee, name filing fee, LLC filing fee, and Franchise Tax & Sales Tax (If applicable). Here are the main fees and taxes you must pay while forming your limited liability company in Washington State,

Fees/Tax	Amount to be Paid
Name Reservation Fee	$30
Name Reservation Fee (Expedited)	$50
Certificate of Formation Fee	$200 (online and $180 by mail)
LLC Annual Fee	$60
Sales Tax	6.5%

In Washington State, an LLC name reservation is not mandatory. You can register your LLC name at the time of registering your LLC. If you wish to hold the name for some time without registering your LLC, then you can do that online. Your LLC name will be reserved for 180 days without registering your LLC. It can be done by paying $30

In Washington State, an Annual Report has to be produced every year. It costs $60. Also, the State of Washington State requires LLCs to pay a Sales Tax of 6.5%. Read our guide on LLC costs in Washington State for more information.

Washington State Foreign LLC

If you are interested in forming a Foreign LLC in Washington State then you need to file the Certificate of Foreign LLC to the Washington State Secretary of State. Foreign LLCs allow you to operate your business in more than one state. Along with the Certificate of Foreign LLC, you need to submit some more documents like the Certificate of Good Standing, etc. to the Washington State SOS to form your foreign LLC in Washington State. To know more in detail, check out our guide on Washington State Foreign LLC.

Reasons to Start an LLC in Washington State

Washington is one of the major business states in the United States. Biggies like Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, Boeing, and such have their companies in Washington State. With a GDP of $440 Billion, the state has around 250,000 companies’ headquarters. Also, the state offers a massive reduction in tax liabilities along with multiple business funding options. If you’re planning to start Washington State LLC, then the state has many advantages to offer.

Best Environment for the start-ups

For any startup, it is necessary to have a business-friendly environment in the state. Washington State, having so many big companies, has the perfect environment for an LLC to start. Export hub, innovation, creativity, low-cost, and massive tax and loan incentives make it easier for the new LLCs.

Foreign Trade Zones

Places like Seattle, Greys Harbor, Tacoma, and Vancouver are considered foreign trade zones in Washington state. Any LLC that operates in these places will be eligible to enjoy the benefits of FTZ. Job creation, development of the area, and improvement in industrial activities will bring tax benefits to these areas.

Opportunity Zone Program

139 places are considered Opportunity Zone in Washington state. Businesses that are operating in these places will get tax incentives and loan facilities. Further, the LLCs can invest the capital in these areas to better understand difficult and poor places.

Sales & Use Tax Exemptions

Like many other neighboring states, Washington State also has tax exemptions. Being an LLC, it already has an LLC pass-through tax advantage. Besides, there are some industries where an entrepreneur can enjoy sales and use tax exemptions. Read more on Washington’s classification of LLC tax. They are as follows-

• Producing alcohol fuel, biodiesel
• Manufacturing parts of machinery, industrial equipment
• Manufacturing airplanes
• Manufacturing farm machinery, parts, and equipment
• Manufacturing livestock nutrient management equipment

Profit Distribution is flexible

Along with massive tax benefits and incentives, LLCs can benefit from the LLC structure in Washington. According to the LLC structure, the profit distribution is remarkably flexible. Unlike the partnership, the profit in LLC will be distributed as per the contribution of members instead of equal or 50-50 distribution.

No matter your business form, there are always banks for small businesses to grant loans and incentives to save more while starting limited liability businesses in Washington state.

Community Property State

Washington is one of the 9 states that is called a community property state. In Washington, starting an LLC with a partner or spouse brings non-complexity and equal profit to both partners. In any community property state, if one partner acquires a property or business or any type of asset during marriage, both spouses will have equal rights on that after marriage. Hence, if you start an LLC in Washington with your spouse, you can create a single-member LLC instead of a partnership or multi-member LLC and still get equal rights on the LLC.

Best Businesses in Washington

If a business person is willing to form an LLC in Washington, it is important for them to gain complete knowledge. It is common that many businesses are flourishing in Washington, but there are only a few which are contributing hugely to the GDP of the state. Here is the list of those top businesses.

Aerospace and Its Construction

There are many aerospace companies established in the state, out of which the top ones are Airbus, Blue origin, and Embraer. The aerospace business is generating around $66 billion every year in which the activities included are:-

• Airline companies
• Machine dealing
• Aerospace training brands

Information technology businesses

When it comes to Washington various software development firms are rising in the state since the year 1980. Headquarters of more than 500 companies in the state, out of which Facebook and Google are the master players along with Amazon. These three companies alone are giving employment to 8000 people in the state.

The contribution that is made by the IT businesses in the state is around $37 billion, with 230,000 people working with them. If we look at the latest trends, then the gaming industry is also booming.

Trade

The trading businesses have helped in generating employment for around 33,000 people in the state. The contribution of the trade business is around 13.8% to the state GDP in which there are exporting of electronics, machinery, and food studs. There are some licensed trade-ins also, which include motor vehicles, snowmobiles, boats, etc. If you look at the number of companies established, then there are around 12,000 currently active companies in the state.

Some of the top small investment businesses that are working well in the state are:-

• Laundry and dry cleaning
• Daycare services
• Restaurants
• Business consultancy

Washington LLC Formation Review

F.A.Qs

In Conclusion

When it comes to forming an LLC in Washington, it is much simpler than other business structures. In Washington, starting a small business or a start-up is easy because of its diverse resources. For small budget holders, forming a limited liability company is desirable. The steps explained in this article are generic steps for starting a business in Washington. It is recommended to consult an attorney or service provider.

In Washington, while establishing an LLC, make sure you check with the local bodies like the city council and district office to get updated with local regulations. We recommend ZenBusiness, one of the best LLC services that offers LLC formation at $0 (+ state filing fees). Hiring a professional service would make things easier. From having a registered agent to complying with the local and state government, everything will be smoother than doing things all by yourself.