Washington LLC vs New Jersey LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Washington.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
New Jersey costs $100 to form and $75 a year, close enough to Washington's $200 and $70 that the filing fees are not the deciding factor. The variable is the Partnership Filing Fee: an LLC with more than two owners and New Jersey source income owes $150 per owner, capped at $250,000, and must prepay half of it toward the following year, so a five-member LLC's first bill is $750 plus a $375 prepayment. Single-member and two-owner LLCs owe none of it, and it sits outside the $75 report. Admission to Washington's registry costs $180.
Based in New Jersey? Read New Jersey LLC vs Washington LLC →
Compare Washington LLC vs New Jersey LLC on filing fees, taxes, privacy laws, and annual costs. Find out which state is actually better for your business.
By Edmond Hui · Last updated: October 5, 2026
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| Factor | Washington | New Jersey |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $180 by mail, $200 online ($20 online surcharge) | $100 |
| Processing Time | Within 15 business days (paper) | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | $70 | $75 |
| Annual Report Due | Last day of anniversary month | Anniversary month |
| State Income Tax | None through 2027; 9.90% above $1M from 2028 | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | No | No |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $180 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Washington LLC cost and New Jersey LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Washington anonymous LLC guide and New Jersey anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: Washington vs New Jersey
| Factor | Washington | New Jersey |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 42.2% (#51 of 51) | 50.5% (#29 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | -25.5% YoY (#15 of 51 by volume) | +12.2% YoY (#9 of 51 by volume) |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)
Compare LLC Costs: Washington vs New Jersey
Washington
New Jersey
A figure shown as "from" is the least the state can charge, not a price. Tennessee's report is $300 for up to six members and $50 for each member above six, its franchise tax is the greater of $100 or 0.25% of Tennessee net worth, Wyoming's report is the greater of $60 or $.0002 per dollar of in-state assets, Kentucky's entity tax is $175 up to $3 million of gross receipts and graduated above it, and New York's annual filing fee is graduated on New York source gross income. A total that contains one of those is shown as "from" for the same reason. Costs include every mandatory state charge: the filing fee, the report fee (annualised where a state files biennially), any state entity-level tax shown in its own row above, a one-time publication cost where the state publishes a rate for it, and any one-time registration charge a state requires before the LLC may trade. Two exclusions follow from that wording. Arizona and Nebraska require publication and publish no rate, so no newspaper cost is carried for either and their totals are not the whole cost. Alaska's $50 annual state business licence is a separate charge from the Secretary of State fees and is not carried here either. Annualising makes the 1, 3 and 5 year rows a cost of ownership rather than a payment schedule: a biennial state charges its whole report fee in the years it falls due and nothing in between. Entity-level taxes that only apply after a corporate election, or above an owner or income threshold, are excluded and flagged on the state's own cost page. New York's publication cost is carried at a $250 floor, roughly $200 of newspaper cost in a low-cost county plus the $50 Certificate of Publication fee. No county-clerk-designated New York City newspaper publishes a rate card, so the four-figure NYC estimates in wide circulation cannot be traced to a primary source and are not asserted here; budget for materially more than the floor if you file in a NYC county. Every fee was verified against the state's own fee schedule, statute, or revenue authority on 29 July 2026. Excludes registered agent and legal fees. For informational purposes only, not legal or tax advice.
Filing Fees & Formation Costs
Washington charges $200 to form an LLC, while New Jersey charges $100. New Jersey is $100 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in New Jersey but operate in Washington, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Washington (a $180 minimum filing) and maintain a registered agent in New Jersey (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the New Jersey route at roughly $430, versus $200 for simply forming in Washington. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Washington publishes a standard turnaround (within 15 business days, paper), while New Jersey publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.
Taxes: Washington vs New Jersey
Washington has no personal income tax through 2027 (from 2028 it taxes individuals at 9.90% on income above a $1,000,000 standard deduction), while New Jersey taxes individual income. Since pass-through LLC profits are taxed where you live and operate, a Washington-based owner gets the same Washington income-tax treatment either way. Forming in New Jersey adds no tax advantage. New Jersey levies a graduated Gross Income Tax on individuals, with a top rate of 10.75% (rate in effect since 2018 per NJ Division of Taxation); LLC pass-through income is taxed to members. Washington imposes the Business & Occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts. LLCs classified as partnerships with more than two owners and NJ-source income owe an annual partnership filing fee of $150 per owner (capped at $250,000); LLCs electing corporate taxation are subject to the Corporation Business Tax instead. Otherwise no franchise tax beyond the $75 annual report.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Neither Washington nor New Jersey offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. The Certificate of Formation requires only the name and registered agent/office, but under New Jersey law the annual report must set forth 'the name and addresses of the managing members or managers,' so management identities become public each year. Business owners who prioritize privacy typically form a holding company in a state like Wyoming or New Mexico instead. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and for most small businesses the practical difference in asset protection between the two is minimal.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Washington LLCs file an annual report ($70, due in the anniversary month), and New Jersey LLCs file an annual report ($75, due in the anniversary month). If you form in New Jersey while operating in Washington, you maintain filings in both states, New Jersey's report plus Washington's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a New Jersey registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the New Jersey route to roughly $295 a year, versus about $70 to keep a domestic Washington LLC in good standing. The taxes inside those totals: Washington imposes the Business & Occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts. LLCs classified as partnerships with more than two owners and NJ-source income owe an annual partnership filing fee of $150 per owner (capped at $250,000); LLCs electing corporate taxation are subject to the Corporation Business Tax instead. Otherwise no franchise tax beyond the $75 annual report.
When New Jersey Actually Makes Sense
Forming in New Jersey makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in New Jersey, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to New Jersey in the near future and accept taking on New Jersey's personal income tax, which Washington doesn't levy through 2027 (from 2028 it taxes individuals at 9.90% on income above a $1,000,000 standard deduction). For a typical small business based in Washington, none of these usually apply. Registering a New Jersey LLC to do business back home means at least $180 in Washington foreign-registration fees, on top of New Jersey's $100 formation fee, while Washington's own annual report runs $70 a year and is due in the anniversary month. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.
- New Jersey statute: N.J.S. 42:2C-18 (certificate of formation contents)
- New Jersey statute: N.J.S. 42:2C-26 (annual report contents)
- sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/business-entities/limited-liability-company-llc-professional-llc-pllc-filing-resource-pageWashington Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/frequently-asked-questions-faqs/fee-scheduleexpedited-serviceWashington LLC filing fees
- nj.gov/treasury/revenue/New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services: business entity filings
- nj.gov/treasury/revenue/fees.shtmlNew Jersey LLC filing fees
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.