Is it cheaper to form an LLC in Virginia than Washington?

Virginia's filing fee is lower ($100 vs $200), but that's not the full picture: operating in Washington means also registering as a foreign LLC there ($180) and paying a Virginia registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $430 for the Virginia route versus $200 for forming in Washington.

Can I form my Washington business in Virginia?

Yes. Any Washington business can form its LLC in Virginia. But if the business operates in Washington, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($180 minimum filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in Virginia, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.

Does Virginia have better asset protection than Washington?

Virginia offers more formation privacy. It allows anonymous LLCs while Washington doesn't. Core asset protection is similar, though: both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members. For most small businesses the practical difference is modest.

State Comparison

Washington LLC vs Virginia LLC (2026)

Written for owners based in Washington.

Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based

Virginia charges $100 to form and a $50 annual registration fee, so $150 in year one against Washington's $270 and $350 over five years against $550. Virginia files no annual report at all. The SCC assesses the fee, sends notice two months ahead, and states you may not pay before being assessed, so there is no way to settle it early and forget it. Three months past due the LLC is cancelled rather than merely penalised, and reinstatement is $100 plus every unpaid fee. An LLC formed there pays $200 to enter Washington.

Based in Virginia? Read Virginia LLC vs Washington LLC →

Compare Washington LLC vs Virginia 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

If your business is based in Washington, a Washington LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Virginia LLC run from Washington generally must also register in Washington as a foreign LLC (a filing fee of at least $180). If your business is based in Virginia, a Virginia LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Washington LLC run from Virginia generally must also register in Virginia as a foreign LLC (Virginia's $100 filing fee). An LLC formed in one of these states and run from the other owes whatever filings, fees and taxes each state requires. A Washington LLC runs $270 in year one and $70/yr after; a Virginia LLC runs $150 and $50/yr. See the full breakdown below.

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Factor	Washington	Virginia
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	$50
Annual Report Due	Last day of anniversary month	Last day of anniversary month
State Income Tax	None through 2027; 9.90% above $1M from 2028	Yes
Anonymous LLC	No	Yes
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 Virginia LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Washington anonymous LLC guide and Virginia anonymous LLC guide.

Business Climate: Washington vs Virginia

Factor	Washington	Virginia
5-year business survival rate	42.2% (#51 of 51)	48.8% (#35 of 51)
Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months))	-25.5% YoY (#15 of 51 by volume)	+12.6% YoY (#14 of 51 by volume)

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)

See the full 50-state survival ranking.

Compare LLC Costs: Washington vs Virginia

State A

State B

Washington

Formation fee$200

Annual report fee$70

State entity taxNone

Report dueLast day of anniversary month

Processing timeWithin 15 business days (paper)

Late penalty$25

Virginia

✓ Cheaper Upfront✓ Cheaper Long-Term

Formation fee$100

Annual report fee$50

State entity taxNone

Report dueLast day of formation month

Processing timeNot published by the state

Late penalty$25

Total Cost

Washington

Virginia

1 Year

$270

$150

3 Years

$410

$250

5 Years

$550

$350

Will you operate outside your home state?

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 Virginia charges $100. Virginia is $100 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Virginia but operate in Washington, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Washington (a $180 minimum filing) and maintain a registered agent in Virginia (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Virginia 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 Virginia publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.

Taxes: Washington vs Virginia

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 Virginia 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 Virginia adds no tax advantage. Washington imposes the Business & Occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts.

Privacy & Asset Protection

Virginia allows anonymous LLC formation. Member and manager names don't appear on routine public filings. Virginia's Articles of Organization require only a registered agent (no members or managers), and Virginia LLCs file no information-bearing annual report (just a $50 annual registration fee), so owner names stay off public filings. One avoidable exposure: Virginia law requires the articles to state the registered agent's qualification, and one permitted qualification is that the agent is a member or manager of the LLC, selecting it names that person. Using a commercial agent or a Virginia State Bar member avoids it. Washington doesn't offer that same privacy. Washington's report records the LLC's governors (members/managers) on the public record. 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. One important caveat: if you register your Virginia LLC as a foreign LLC in Washington, that Washington registration is itself a public record, which can undercut much of the privacy benefit for a business that operates in Washington.

Annual Maintenance Costs

Washington LLCs file an annual report ($70, due in the anniversary month), and Virginia LLCs file an annual report ($50, due in the anniversary month). If you form in Virginia while operating in Washington, you maintain filings in both states, Virginia's report plus Washington's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Virginia registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Virginia route to roughly $270 a year, versus about $70 to keep a domestic Washington LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: Washington imposes the Business & Occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts.

When Virginia Actually Makes Sense

Forming in Virginia makes sense in a few specific situations: you need anonymous ownership. Washington puts owner or manager information on public filings and Virginia doesn't (usually via a holding company, since operating in Washington still requires a public foreign registration there), your business genuinely operates in Virginia, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Virginia in the near future and accept taking on Virginia'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 Virginia LLC to do business back home means at least $180 in Washington foreign-registration fees, on top of Virginia'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

: Virginia's filing fee is lower ($100 vs $200), but that's not the full picture: operating in Washington means also registering as a foreign LLC there ($180) and paying a Virginia registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $430 for the Virginia route versus $200 for forming in Washington.
: Yes. Any Washington business can form its LLC in Virginia. But if the business operates in Washington, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($180 minimum filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in Virginia, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.
: Virginia offers more formation privacy. It allows anonymous LLCs while Washington doesn't. Core asset protection is similar, though: both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members. For most small businesses the practical difference is modest.
: It depends on where the business is based. For a Washington-based business, Washington: forming where the business is based keeps costs and compliance simple, and Virginia is worth considering only if you actually do business there or want an anonymous holding company there. For a Virginia-based business, the same reasoning points to Virginia.
: Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Washington publishes a standard turnaround (within 15 business days, paper), while Virginia publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed. Whichever you pick, remember that forming in Virginia while operating in Washington means you're not fully set up until the Washington foreign registration is also processed, so the out-of-state route is rarely the faster path end to end. If your timing is genuinely fixed, buy the state's expedite tier rather than relying on a standard turnaround.

Comparison chart of forming an LLC in Washington versus Virginia, contrasting filing fees, annual report cost and ongoing obligations across 8 factors. — Washington and Virginia side by side on the factors that decide where to form. Source: MyStateLLC 50-state cost dataset, verified against each Secretary of State's published fee schedule, July 2026.

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More State Comparisons

Washington vs West Virginia →Washington vs Wisconsin →Washington vs Wyoming →Washington vs Delaware →Virginia vs Delaware →

Washington LLC Guide →Virginia LLC Guide →

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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.

Virginia statute: Va. Code s.13.1-1011(A)(3) (registered agent qualification)
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
scc.virginia.gov/businesses/Virginia State Corporation Commission: business entity filings
scc.virginia.gov/businesses/forms-and-fees/virginia-limited-liability-companies/Virginia 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.