How much does it cost to incorporate in Washington?

$180 to file the Articles of Incorporation (domestic Profit Corporation). Adding the first report brings the first-year state filing charges to $250.

Is Washington an expensive state to incorporate in?

On the filing fee alone, Washington is the 43rd cheapest of 49 states to incorporate in. Filing fees across the states run from $35 in Montana to $300 in Texas, a one-off charge that is usually dwarfed by the recurring report fee and any annual franchise or minimum tax, which is where the real long-run difference between states sits.

Is it cheaper to form an LLC or a corporation in Washington?

A corporation is actually cheaper to file in Washington, $180 against $200 for an LLC, a $20 difference. That is unusual, and it is a one-off filing charge, so weigh the ongoing obligations rather than the headline fee.

How to Form a Corporation in Washington

By Edmond Hui · Facts verified July 29, 2026 against primary state sources

Incorporating in Washington costs $180 to file the Articles of Incorporation (domestic Profit Corporation). After that the corporation files every year and pays $70. First-year state filing charges come to $250.

State filing fees to form each entity type in Washington: $180 to file a corporation, versus $200 to file an LLC. Washington imposes no corporate income tax. — Both figures are one-time state filing fees to form the entity; the report and corporate income tax lines below recur for the corporation. The LLC may also owe a separate state franchise or annual tax not shown in this grid. See the LLC's own cost page for its full recurring total. Source: MyStateLLC 50-state corporation and LLC cost datasets, compiled from state filing offices and revenue departments, July 2026; any figure we could not confirm is labeled on the page.

Cost to file$180

Report cadenceEvery year

First-year filings$250

Corporate income taxNone

What you file in Washington

Incorporation filing

Document	Articles of Incorporation (domestic Profit Corporation)
Fee	$180
Recurring report	Annual Report (filed through the WA Secretary of State CCFS portal), every year, $70
First report due	Initial annual report due within 120 days of formation; thereafter the annual report is due by the end of the corporation's anniversary month each year

Sourcing note: filed with the WA Secretary of State via the Corporations & Charities Filing System (CCFS). No separately numbered paper form.

This page covers the state filing and the charges that follow it. For the procedural side (name availability, registered agent, bylaws and the federal EIN), see the formation guide and how to get an EIN, both of which apply to corporations as well as LLCs.

What it costs to incorporate and stay filed

State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded. Both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure would be true for every corporation.

Charge	Amount	How often
Articles of Incorporation (domestic Profit Corporation)	$180	One time
Annual Report (filed through the WA Secretary of State CCFS portal)	$70	Every year
First-year state filing charges	$250	N/A
Five-year state filing charges	$530	N/A

Washington is the 43rd cheapest of 49 states on the incorporation filing fee alone. Nationally the fee runs from $35 in Montana to $300 in Texas, averaging $113.49. It is a one-off charge, so over five years it is usually outweighed by the recurring report fee and any annual franchise or minimum tax.

States that are cheaper to incorporate in

State	Filing fee	Difference
Montana	$35	$145
Kentucky	$40	$140
Arkansas	$50	$130
Colorado	$50	$130
Iowa	$50	$130

A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you actually operate in Washington. Every state sets its own threshold for what counts as transacting business, and where that threshold is met an out-of-state corporation is generally required to register as a foreign corporation. Which would mean fees in both states rather than one. Whether it applies to you depends on facts this page cannot see, so check foreign qualification in Washington before incorporating elsewhere to save on the filing fee.

Washington corporation vs Washington LLC

State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded because both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure exists for either entity.

	Corporation	LLC
Formation filing fee	$180	$200
Report cadence	Every year	Every year
Report fee	$70	$70
Entity-level tax on the LLC side	N/A	Business and Occupation (B&O) Tax

Worth noticing: a corporation is $20 cheaper to file here than an LLC. That is the exception nationally. Corporations are the cheaper filing in only 14 of the 50 states, the two entities cost the same in 26, and the LLC is cheaper in 10.

Full Washington LLC cost breakdown · LLC vs C-corp explained · LLC vs S-corp explained

State taxes a Washington corporation pays

Corporate income tax

Applies	No corporate income tax
Rate	None - Washington has no corporate (or personal) income tax; it imposes a Business & Occupation (B&O) gross-receipts tax instead

Franchise or gross-receipts tax

No corporate income or franchise tax. Washington levies a Business & Occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts (no deduction for costs). 2026 classification rates: Retailing 0.471%, Wholesaling 0.484%, Manufacturing 0.484%, Service & other activities 1.5% (prior-year gross under $1M), 1.75% ($1M-$4,999,999), and 2.1% ($5M or more). A small-business B&O credit can reduce or eliminate tax for very small filers.

What these totals leave out: the filing-charge figures on this page are what you pay the business filing office. They exclude corporate income tax and any franchise or gross-receipts tax, because both depend on income, net worth or receipts. The section above sets out what Washington levies, or that it levies neither. Where a state's franchise tax carries a flat minimum, that minimum is an unavoidable annual cost these totals do not include, and over five years it can be the larger number.

Electing S-corporation status in Washington

Washington has no corporate income tax, so there is no state S election to make. Full Washington S-corporation election guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

: $180 to file the Articles of Incorporation (domestic Profit Corporation). Adding the first report brings the first-year state filing charges to $250.
: On the filing fee alone, Washington is the 43rd cheapest of 49 states to incorporate in. Filing fees across the states run from $35 in Montana to $300 in Texas, a one-off charge that is usually dwarfed by the recurring report fee and any annual franchise or minimum tax, which is where the real long-run difference between states sits.
: A corporation is actually cheaper to file in Washington, $180 against $200 for an LLC, a $20 difference. That is unusual, and it is a one-off filing charge, so weigh the ongoing obligations rather than the headline fee.
: No. Washington is one of 6 states with no corporate income tax. No corporate income or franchise tax. Washington levies a Business & Occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts (no deduction for costs). 2026 classification rates: Retailing 0.471%, Wholesaling 0.484%, Manufacturing 0.484%, Service & other activities 1.5% (prior-year gross under $1M), 1.75% ($1M-$4,999,999), and 2.1% ($5M or more). A small-business B&O credit can reduce or eliminate tax for very small filers.

Where these numbers come from

This page covers the state filing required to incorporate in Washington and the charges that follow it. Every figure was checked against Washington's own published sources on July 29, 2026, the state business filing agency's fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state tax applies, the state Department of Revenue. Commercial formation-service pages were used as leads only and are never cited. Anything the review could not confirm from an official source is left blank on this page rather than filled with an estimate.

Corporate income tax and franchise tax are quoted as the state publishes them, as rate schedules and thresholds, and are excluded from every dollar total here. They depend on income or net worth, so there is no flat figure that would be true for every corporation.

Primary sources:

https://www.sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/fee-scheduleexpedited-service
https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/business-occupation-tax/business-occupation-tax-classifications
https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/business-occupation-tax
https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=434-112-085
Washington statute: RCW 23B (Business Corporation Act)

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It describes rules that can differ from state to state, and fees, rates, forms and deadlines can change after we review them. It cannot tell you what applies to your own business: that turns on where the business is formed, where it operates and how it is taxed. Confirm anything you rely on with the state or federal agency concerned, or with a licensed attorney or CPA, before you act on it.

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.

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