Washington

Washington's Uniform Business Organizations Code hub chapter (RCW 23.95, art. 4) governs registered agents for ALL entity typesEntity typesLLC (limited liability company), corporation (for-profit; 'profit corporation' in some states' vocabulary), nonprofit corporation, LP (limited partnership), LLP (limited liability partnership), LLLP (limited liability limited partnership),Read the full entry →; RCW 23B.05.010 and the LLC act simply cross-reference it. Every domestic entityDomestic / foreignRelative to one state's records: an entity is domestic in the state that formed it and foreign everywhere else it registers to do business.Read the full entry → and registered foreign entity must maintain a registered agent (RCW 23.95.405), which may be a commercial registered agent, a noncommercial registered agent - an individual or domestic or foreign entity that serves in this state - or the holder of a designated office or position with the entity (RCW 23.95.415(1)(b)(ii)). Required addresses must be a street address in this state (RCW 23.95.410). No residency or authorized-to-transact-business restriction appears beyond the in-state street address.

Consent required: yes.

If an entity ceases to have a registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, service may be made by registered/certified mail (or commercial delivery) to the entity's principal office as shown in its most recent annual report; failing that, by handing a copy to the individual in charge of any regular place of business; and if all of those fail, the secretary of state is the entity's agent for service of process.

• Administrative DissolutionRevocation / administrative dissolutionThe state involuntarily ending an entity's authority to do business - for missed annual reports, a lapsed registered agent, or unpaid fees.Read the full entry →. A domestic entity (any type except a domestic LLP, RCW 23.95.600) that has no registered agent for 30 consecutive days is subject to administrative dissolution (60-day cure window after notice; a dissolved entity may only wind up).
• Revocation Foreign. The secretary of state may terminate a registered foreign entity's registration if it does not have a registered agent as required, or fails to file a statement of change after the agent's name or address changes (60-day cure window after notice).
• ReinstatementReinstatementRestoring an entity the state revoked or administratively dissolved for missed filings - typically back-filing reports, paying accrued fees and penalties, and filing an application.Read the full entry → Fee. Reinstatement (available up to five years after administrative dissolution) requires paying all annual license/renewal fees that would have been assessed during dissolution, plus a penalty fee set by secretary of state rule, plus the fee for the year of reinstatement - no dollar amount is stated in the statute.
• No Court Access. A foreign entity doing business in Washington may not maintain an action or proceeding unless it is registered and has paid all fees and penalties for the unregistered period.
• Other. A foreign entity transacting business without registration is liable to the state for all fees that would have been imposed had it registered and filed all reports, plus all penalties for failure to pay those fees.

Filing officeFiling officeThe agency that keeps the business register.Read the full entry →

Washington Department of Revenue - Business Licensing Service (trade names ride on the Business License Application; RCW 19.80)

State fee

$5 per trade nameDBA / fictitious nameA name a business operates under that is not its legal name - 'doing business as.' Also: assumed name, trade name, fictitious business name.Read the full entry →, plus the nonrefundable Business License Application processing fee; cancellation is free

Term

Indefinite - 'A trade name will remain registered indefinitely until the owner requests that it be canceled' (official DOR page)

Renewal

None (no expiration/renewal; DOR may cancel if the business license account goes inactive, RCW 19.80.080)

Publication

Not required. No newspaper publicationPublication requirementA few states require newly formed or registered entities to publish a notice in designated newspapers (New York's LLC publication is the expensive example) - a real cost of formation that fee tables usually omit.Read the full entry → requirement

Online filing

Available

The regime

Washington requires each person conducting business in the state under a trade name to register that trade name with the Department of Revenue, which maintains a central statewide registry. The chapter's stated purposes are true-name disclosure and a central registry of trade-name businesses.

Where it is filed

The Department of Revenue ("the department" throughout the chapter), through its business licensing service - fees are credited to the business license account and trade-name renewal is tied to business-license renewal. There is no county filing and the registry is not with the Secretary of State.

Term and renewal

No fixed statutory term. The department may establish a renewal process, but may not require renewal more often than annually and must allow renewal at the same time as business-license renewal; the department may cancel a trade name when the registrant's business license account is inactive, after notice and a 20-day objection window.

Assumed names for registered entities

Under the Uniform Business Organizations Code hub chapter, a foreign entity whose name does not comply with Washington's name requirements (RCW 23.95.300) cannot register to do business until it adopts a compliant alternate name; after registering, it may do business under the alternate name, its true name with jurisdiction of formation identified, or an assumed name under chapter 19.80. Name reservations (RCW 23.95.310) give 180 days of exclusive use.

Penalties

An unregistered person doing business under a trade name may not maintain any suit in Washington courts until registration is properly completed; nonregistration does not impair contract validity or prevent defending a suit.

Official source

dor.wa.gov/manage-business/grow-business/register-trade-names↗ (opens the official source)

What it is called

Business & Occupation (B&O) tax - gross-receipts excise (NOT a franchise taxFranchise taxA recurring tax on the privilege of existing as an entity in a state - not a tax on franchising a business.Read the full entry →; characterized honestly, it fills the franchise-tax slot as WA's recurring business-privilege tax)

Administering agency

Washington State Department of Revenue (360-705-6705); SOS administers only the $70 annual report

Corporation minimum

$0

How it is computed

No franchise tax, no net-income tax, no annual minimum entity tax. The functional equivalent is the Business & Occupation (B&O) GROSS-RECEIPTS excise, RCW ch. 82.04 (imposed by RCW 82.04.220 on every person with substantial nexus - entity-neutral, LLCs and corporations identical). Tax = gross receipts x classification rate (50+ classifications; NO deduction for expenses). Major rates: Retailing 0.471% (RCW 82.04.250); Wholesaling 0.484% (RCW 82.04.270); Manufacturing 0.484% (RCW 82.04.240); Service & Other Activities (RCW 82.04.290, tiers per ESHB 2081 ch. 240 Laws of 2025 sec. 109, eff. 10/1/2025): 1.5% if prior-year gross <$1M, 1.75% if $1M-$4,999,999.99, 2.1% if >=$5M (hospitals + select advanced-computing stay 1.5%; payment card processing 3.1% eff. 1/1/2026). Minimum: $0 (zero receipts = zero tax). No cap; instead +0.5% surcharge on WA taxable income OVER $250M, 1/1/2026-12/31/2029 (ESHB 2081). Relief: small business B&O credit RCW 82.04.4451 (max $55/mo standard, $160/mo if >=50% of taxable amount is service/real-estate-broker/contests-of-chance; reduced credit = 2x max - tax due, floor $0); 'active non-reporting' status (no returns) if all-B&O gross <$125,000/yr + no retail sales tax collected + no other taxes owed. Due dates (DOR-assigned frequency): monthly = 25th of following month; quarterly = last day of month following quarter; annual = April 15 (combined Excise Ta