What is the exact late fee for a Washington LLC annual report?

Washington's delinquency fee for an LLC annual report is $25, charged on top of the standard $70 filing fee, totaling $95 for delinquent submissions. This penalty applies when you file after the deadline, which falls on the last day of the month in which your LLC was formed. The Washington Secretary of State's Business Services Division assesses this fee automatically when processing late reports submitted to their office. Failing to pay the late fee doesn't eliminate the penalty. It simply delays compliance. For LLC owners, this means a single month's delay costs an extra $25 beyond your regular annual obligation. More critically, unpaid late filings can trigger administrative dissolution, jeopardizing your business standing. To avoid this penalty, submit your annual report through the Secretary of State's online filing portal before your deadline. If you've already missed the deadline, file immediately with the $95 payment to restore your account's good standing status. First-year filers: a separate Initial Report is due within 120 days of the effective date of the Certificate of Formation, free if submitted with the formation filing and $10 if deferred. The first Annual Report is then due by the last day of the formation month in the following year.

Can I reinstate my Washington LLC after administrative dissolution?

Yes, Washington allows LLC reinstatement up to 5 years after administrative dissolution through the Washington Secretary of State. File an Application for Reinstatement with the Secretary of State, paying the reinstatement fee plus any outstanding annual report fees and penalties accumulated during the dissolution period. If your LLC was dissolved for failing to file your annual report, you must also file the overdue report before reinstatement. The reinstatement becomes effective upon Secretary of State approval. This matters because your LLC's legal standing remains suspended until reinstatement is complete. Until it is reinstated, the LLC is out of good standing with the state, so confirm its status with the filing office before you sign anything new in its name. After reinstatement, ensure timely filing of future annual reports by the last day of your LLC's anniversary month to avoid re-dissolution. Submit your reinstatement application immediately to the Secretary of State's office to restore your company's active status.

Does filing my Washington LLC annual report late affect my liability protection?

Not by the lateness itself. What matters is what happens if the report stays unfiled and the LLC loses its standing with the state. Under Washington law, reinstatement relates back to the date the LLC lost its standing, and the LLC carries on as if that had not happened. The rights of a person arising from something done or not done in reliance on the dissolution, before the person knew or had reason to know of the reinstatement, are not affected. This page does not have a confirmed Washington rule on whether owners are personally liable for what the business does while it is out of standing, so do not treat the protection as either lost or safe for that period. When your LLC fails to file its annual report by the last day of its anniversary month with the Washington Secretary of State, you lose good standing status. Under Washington law, the Secretary of State serves notice first, and the LLC is administratively dissolved only if it fails to cure within 60 days of that service. Good standing returns only after you file the overdue annual report and pay the $70 filing fee plus the $25 delinquency fee to the Secretary of State's Corporations Division. If your LLC was dissolved, you must also pay a reinstatement fee. To protect yourself immediately, file your overdue report today and request confirmation of restored good standing status.

How can I check if my Washington LLC is in good standing?

Visit the Washington Secretary of State website at sos.wa.gov and use the Business Search tool to check your LLC's current status instantly. For legal or transactional purposes, such as opening a bank account or securing financing. Request an official Certificate of Good Standing directly from the Secretary of State's Division of Corporations. We do not have a confirmed processing time for this certificate, and the issuing office can tell you how long it currently takes. Your LLC maintains good standing only if your annual report was filed by the last day of your anniversary month and all fees were paid. If your LLC appears delinquent, you'll face reinstatement fees and potential business disruptions. To verify your exact status and identify any outstanding requirements, call the Division of Corporations during business hours, or submit your search request through the online portal immediately.

Can I negotiate or waive the $25 late fee with Washington Secretary of State?

This page has no record of a waiver or reduction process for this charge in Washington. If you think it was assessed in error, ask the filing office. This penalty is set by a Washington administrative rule and applies automatically when your LLC fails to file its annual report by the last day of its anniversary month. The fee is non-discretionary. You must pay the full $25 delinquency fee in addition to the standard $70 annual report filing fee (totaling $95) to restore your LLC to active status. Failure to pay can lead to administrative dissolution after the Secretary of State's notice and a 60-day period to cure. File your overdue annual report immediately through the Secretary of State's online portal or by mail to the Corporations Division in Olympia. Include both the $70 report fee and $25 penalty to regain good standing without further complications.

Washington LLC Annual Report Late Fees: What You Need to Know

Your Washington LLC annual report is due during your anniversary month. Missing the deadline triggers penalties and could lead to administrative dissolution. Here's how to stay compliant or fix a late filing.

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: October 2026

Washington LLC annual reports are due last day of anniversary month. Washington's late fee is $25. See details below.

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Go directly to the Washington Secretary of State website.

File with the Washington Secretary of State →

Late Fee Facts at a Glance

Annual report due

Last day of anniversary month

Base fee

$70

Late penalty

$25 delinquency fee after the anniversary month deadline ($95 total)

Grace period

None, late fees apply immediately after the anniversary month deadline

Dissolution timeline

The Secretary of State serves notice, and if the LLC does not cure within 60 days of service it is administratively dissolved

Step diagram for fixing a late LLC annual report in Washington, $25 late fee, report due last day of anniversary month. — How to cure a late Washington annual report, and what the state charges for missing it. Source: Washington Secretary of State.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

Stage 1

After the anniversary-month deadline

A delinquent annual report costs $95 rather than $70: the $70 report fee plus a $25 delinquent fee under Washington's filing fee rules.

Fix:Yes. File the overdue annual report and pay $95.

Stage 2

60 days after service of notice

Missing the expiration date puts the LLC in delinquent status. The Secretary of State serves notice, and if the entity does not cure within 60 days of service it is administratively dissolved.

Fix:Yes. Cure within the 60 days stated in the notice.

How to Fix It: Step-by-Step

File the Overdue Annual Report

Log into the Washington Secretary of State's online portal at sos.wa.gov and complete your annual report. You'll need to pay the $70 base fee plus $25 late penalty for a total of $95.

Pay All Required Fees

Submit payment for the total amount due: $70 (annual report fee) + $25 (late penalty). Payment can be made online via credit card or ACH transfer through the Secretary of State portal.

Request Reinstatement if Dissolved

If your LLC has been administratively dissolved, file an Application for Reinstatement with the Washington Secretary of State along with additional reinstatement fees and any other required documentation.

Verify Good Standing Status

After processing, request a Certificate of Good Standing from the Washington Secretary of State to confirm your LLC is compliant and in good standing for business operations.

Reinstatement After Dissolution

Reinstatement Possible?: Yes
How Long Allowed: Generally up to 5 years after administrative dissolution in Washington
Reinstatement Fee: $140 for the reinstatement filing itself. Confirm what else is owed with the state filing office before paying.
What You Lose During Dissolution: Good standing, and with it the certificate of good standing that banks, lenders and licensing bodies ask for. The LLC continues to exist for winding up, so this does not by itself void the liability shield, but the company cannot carry on ordinary business and its name protection is at risk until it is reinstated.

Do You Need a Paid Service to Fix This?

No. You can file the overdue report yourself by following the How to Fix It steps above, and pay only what the state itself charges (the report fee, any late fee, and any reinstatement fee), with no service fee on top.

Hiring a registered agent service is a separate choice, and it is optional too. Every LLC must keep a registered agent, but in most states the LLC's owner, or another individual who qualifies, may serve as its registered agent themselves, generally subject to that state's rules on keeping a street address in the state and being available there during normal business hours. The Washington registered agent requirements set out what Washington itself asks.

Registered agent services for Washington LLCs

Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.

This list is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and every claim below is about the services listed here rather than the whole market.

Northwest Registered Agent$125/yr renewal
Best for: Privacy-focused owners and anyone who just needs an agent, not a formation bundle
Bizee$149/yr renewal
Best for: A free first year (some visitors are being shown shorter free periods, so confirm at checkout), renewing at $149/yr, if you're comfortable with the BBB caveat
ZenBusiness$199/yr renewal
Best for: First-time founders forming a new LLC who want phone, email and chat support
LegalZoom$249/yr renewal
Best for: Complex structures that want attorney consultations, which come with LegalZoom's $299 formation plan (and, in one version of its plans, the $249 plan) rather than this renewal price

Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.

Annual renewal is each provider's own standard published rate. Check the current terms at each provider before you buy. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is in our full formation services review →

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state publishes about filing deadlines, fees, and the consequences of missing them, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you what your own company owes: the date turns on when and where you formed, states change these rules between our reviews, and in several states an entity-level tax falls due in a year when no report does. Confirm your own dates with the filing office named on this page before you rely on one here, because missing a deadline can cost the company its good standing or, in many states, its existence.

Read this guide for another state:

Frequently Asked Questions

: Washington's delinquency fee for an LLC annual report is $25, charged on top of the standard $70 filing fee, totaling $95 for delinquent submissions. This penalty applies when you file after the deadline, which falls on the last day of the month in which your LLC was formed. The Washington Secretary of State's Business Services Division assesses this fee automatically when processing late reports submitted to their office. Failing to pay the late fee doesn't eliminate the penalty. It simply delays compliance. For LLC owners, this means a single month's delay costs an extra $25 beyond your regular annual obligation. More critically, unpaid late filings can trigger administrative dissolution, jeopardizing your business standing. To avoid this penalty, submit your annual report through the Secretary of State's online filing portal before your deadline. If you've already missed the deadline, file immediately with the $95 payment to restore your account's good standing status. First-year filers: a separate Initial Report is due within 120 days of the effective date of the Certificate of Formation, free if submitted with the formation filing and $10 if deferred. The first Annual Report is then due by the last day of the formation month in the following year.
: Yes, Washington allows LLC reinstatement up to 5 years after administrative dissolution through the Washington Secretary of State. File an Application for Reinstatement with the Secretary of State, paying the reinstatement fee plus any outstanding annual report fees and penalties accumulated during the dissolution period. If your LLC was dissolved for failing to file your annual report, you must also file the overdue report before reinstatement. The reinstatement becomes effective upon Secretary of State approval. This matters because your LLC's legal standing remains suspended until reinstatement is complete. Until it is reinstated, the LLC is out of good standing with the state, so confirm its status with the filing office before you sign anything new in its name. After reinstatement, ensure timely filing of future annual reports by the last day of your LLC's anniversary month to avoid re-dissolution. Submit your reinstatement application immediately to the Secretary of State's office to restore your company's active status.
: Not by the lateness itself. What matters is what happens if the report stays unfiled and the LLC loses its standing with the state. Under Washington law, reinstatement relates back to the date the LLC lost its standing, and the LLC carries on as if that had not happened. The rights of a person arising from something done or not done in reliance on the dissolution, before the person knew or had reason to know of the reinstatement, are not affected. This page does not have a confirmed Washington rule on whether owners are personally liable for what the business does while it is out of standing, so do not treat the protection as either lost or safe for that period. When your LLC fails to file its annual report by the last day of its anniversary month with the Washington Secretary of State, you lose good standing status. Under Washington law, the Secretary of State serves notice first, and the LLC is administratively dissolved only if it fails to cure within 60 days of that service. Good standing returns only after you file the overdue annual report and pay the $70 filing fee plus the $25 delinquency fee to the Secretary of State's Corporations Division. If your LLC was dissolved, you must also pay a reinstatement fee. To protect yourself immediately, file your overdue report today and request confirmation of restored good standing status.
: Visit the Washington Secretary of State website at sos.wa.gov and use the Business Search tool to check your LLC's current status instantly. For legal or transactional purposes, such as opening a bank account or securing financing. Request an official Certificate of Good Standing directly from the Secretary of State's Division of Corporations. We do not have a confirmed processing time for this certificate, and the issuing office can tell you how long it currently takes. Your LLC maintains good standing only if your annual report was filed by the last day of your anniversary month and all fees were paid. If your LLC appears delinquent, you'll face reinstatement fees and potential business disruptions. To verify your exact status and identify any outstanding requirements, call the Division of Corporations during business hours, or submit your search request through the online portal immediately.
: This page has no record of a waiver or reduction process for this charge in Washington. If you think it was assessed in error, ask the filing office. This penalty is set by a Washington administrative rule and applies automatically when your LLC fails to file its annual report by the last day of its anniversary month. The fee is non-discretionary. You must pay the full $25 delinquency fee in addition to the standard $70 annual report filing fee (totaling $95) to restore your LLC to active status. Failure to pay can lead to administrative dissolution after the Secretary of State's notice and a 60-day period to cure. File your overdue annual report immediately through the Secretary of State's online portal or by mail to the Corporations Division in Olympia. Include both the $70 report fee and $25 penalty to regain good standing without further complications.

Sources

8 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Washington 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.

Washington statute: RCW 23.95.610 (administrative dissolution)
Washington rule: WAC 434-112-085(7)(p),(r) (annual report and delinquent fees)
Washington rule: WAC 434-112-085 (delinquent fee)
app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=23.95.615RCW 23.95.615, Reinstatement
sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/business-entities/limited-liability-company-llc-professional-llc-pllc-filing-resource-pageWashington Secretary of State: business entity filings
app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=23.95.255Washington statute: Annual Report
sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/frequently-asked-questions-faqs/annual-reportsWashington agency guidance: Annual Report
sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/business-entities/maintain-business-compliance/annual-reportsWashington Secretary of State: file the Annual Report

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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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