Stay compliant in Washington

The formation filing is the start. Washington then wants an annual report on your own month, excise returns on the Department’s calendar, and, once you hire, a stack of wage reports that do not wait for a profitable quarter.

What’s different in Washington

• The annual report is due on your formation month, not a statewide day. It is $70 for an LLC, including the online fee, and you can file 180 days early.
• B&O tax and sales tax share one excise return. The frequency is assigned. The due dates are the 25th, the end of the following month, or April 15.
• Paid Leave and WA Cares are not the same premium. Paid Leave is 1.13% in 2026 and 1.2% starting Jan. 1, 2027. WA Cares is 0.58% with no cap.
• A new employer does not look up one unemployment percentage. You pay 115% of your industry's average rate, and not below 1%. The wage base is $78,200 in 2026 and $82,000 in 2027.
• City wages are a second list, and the state pages do not agree on the cities. Check the city. Do not average the two lists.

Your Washington calendar

• Annual report. Due the last day of the month in which the business was formed. File as early as 180 days before. Profit entities, including LLCs, pay $70. If you do not attach an upload, the report shows on the record immediately and the expiration date moves forward one year. A delinquent status adds $25. The schedule’s combined line for an annual report with the delinquency fee is $95, which is the $70 report plus the $25 penalty. Nonprofit miscellaneous and mutual corporations, and a corporation sole, are different. Their online fee is $10. Nonprofit miscellaneous and mutual corporations, and a corporation sole, do not pay the delinquency fee. The schedule’s nonprofit annual-report range is still $20 to $60. Use the line for your entity.
• Excise return. Monthly, due the 25th of the next month. Quarterly, due the end of the month after the quarter. The first quarter is due April 30. Annual, due April 15. If the due date is a weekend or a legal holiday, it moves to the next business day. B&O tax is on gross receipts, and you do not add it as a line on the customer’s bill.
• Business license renewal. Yearly, on the date printed on the license, if you have a state or city endorsement. Processing is $5 plus endorsement fees. Late is half of the endorsement fee, or up to $150.
• Unemployment. Due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31, for the quarter just ended. Reports are required every quarter even when you have no active employees or hours to report. A new employer pays 115% of your industry's average rate, and not below 1% for 2 1/2 to 3 years. You can stop being “new” after that. The taxable wage base is $78,200 in 2026 and $82,000 in 2027. For employers who have a history, the experience piece is capped at 5.4%, the social piece at 1.22%, and those two together cannot pass 6%. The employment administration fund is 0.02% to .03%, depending on your rate class. The same page says employers also pay FUTA of 0.6% of the first $7,000 of each employee's wages. That is a federal tax the state page restates. It is not a second state income tax.
• Workers’ compensation. Due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. Coverage is required for your workers unless a specific exemption applies. That includes family, friends, short-term staff, and owners without significant management authority. It may include independent contractors. The premium is the risk-class rate times hours worked. The rate notice shows the portion, if any, that you may deduct from pay.
• Paid Leave and WA Cares. In 2026, Paid Leave is 1.13% of gross wages, tips excluded, up to $184,500. Employers with 50 or more employees pay up to 28.57%. Employees pay 71.43%. A business with fewer than 50 employees does not have to pay the employer share. It still collects the employee share or pays that share itself. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, the premium is 1.2%. Employers then pay 29.3% and employees pay 70.7%. A business with fewer than 50 employees still does not pay the employer share unless it chooses to. Employment Security sets that headcount on September 30. That 2027 notice does not restate a wage cap. WA Cares is 0.58% of gross wages. There is no Social Security cap. The employee pays it unless the employer chooses to pay. Penalties on past-due Paid Leave reports, and interest on overdue premiums, begin August 1, 2026. Elective coverage and a voluntary plan follow different rules. Do not flatten them into the percentages above.*
• Paid sick leave. Accrue at least one hour for every 40 hours worked, from the first day, for every employee including part-time, temporary, and seasonal. Accrual starts on the first day of work. There is no yearly cap on accrual. At least 40 unused hours carry into the next year. You can be more generous.
• Minimum wage. The 2026 state wage is $17.13 an hour. On Jan. 1, 2027 it is $17.73 for most workers and $15.07 for workers who are 14 or 15. Tips do not count toward the minimum wage. Seattle, SeaTac, and Tukwila have higher pay rates. The small-business guide names Seattle, Tacoma, or SeaTac and tells you to check the city. The city dollar amounts are not on either page.*
• New hires. Report each one to the Department of Social and Health Services within 20 days. You do not file a new business license application for every later hire.
• Property tax. Counties collect it. The Department of Revenue calendar says the first half is due April 30. If the bill is under $50, the full amount is due then. The second half is due October 31. The small-business guide instead says property tax is due April 31 and October 31. April 31 is not a calendar day. Ask the county. Use the Department’s dates.

Do this

1. Write down the formation month. That month’s last day is the annual report. Put a reminder 180 days before it. An email address is required for the registered agent and the principal office.
2. File the report even when nothing changed. Search by UBI or business name in the Corporations and Charities Filing System. If you do not attach an upload, the report shows on the record immediately and the expiration date moves forward one year.
3. If the status already says delinquent, pay the extra fee on purpose. The added fee is $25. The schedule’s single line for that filing is $95. Reinstatement, once you need it, is $140 plus every missed annual report fee. Closing the entity is no fee. The glossary’s definition of administrative dissolution does not include a count of missed years.* If the record says dissolved, read the notice before you assume a late report is enough.
4. File the excise return on the frequency the Department assigned. Confirm the band: $1,050 or less is annual, $1,051 to $4,800 is quarterly, and $4,801 or more is monthly. The small-business B&O credit is calculated for you when you file electronically. Do not add B&O tax as its own line on a customer’s invoice.
5. Keep employee reports going in empty quarters. Unemployment and workers’ compensation reports are required every quarter even when you have no active employees or hours to report. Paid Leave’s penalty start date is August 1, 2026. A new hire is a 20-day report to Social and Health Services, separate from those quarterlies.
6. Pay at least the state minimum, then check the city. The state wage is $17.13 an hour in 2026 and $17.73 an hour for most workers starting Jan. 1, 2027. Then read both city lists, because they are not copies of each other. Sick leave starts on day one, at one hour per 40 hours.
7. Renew the business license on its own date. That date is printed on the license. It is not the annual report date. Late renewal costs half of the endorsement fee, or up to $150.

What you get back

An entity still in good standing, tax accounts that match the quarters you actually had, and a wage file an employee can use if they need the benefit. The city, if you have one, keeps its own calendar.