Filing the annual report for a foreign LLC in Washington
When and how does a foreign LLC file its annual report in Washington?
- Find the month your LLC registered in Washington
- Mark the last day of that month as the yearly deadline
- Gather the registered agent and principal office addresses
- File within the 180-day window before the deadline
- Pay the $70 fee with the report
- Watch for the acceptance that keeps the status active
- Repeat every year, with or without the reminder letter
The deadline is your own registration month
The annual report for a registered foreign LLC is due by the last day of the month in which the business originally registered in Washington, every year. Register in March, and the report is due by the last day of every March after.
Filing early does not move the date. The expiration stays tied to the original registration month for as long as the LLC keeps its active status, and an early report leaves next year's deadline exactly where it was.
The window is generous: you may file up to 180 days before the expiration date. Six months of runway means the report can ride along with a slow season instead of competing with one.
180 daysWashington annual reports are due by the last day of the month in which the business was originally formed or registered, and may be filed up to 180 days before the expiration date. — Washington Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29
What the report states
The annual report is a records check, not a financial return. It states the entity's name and jurisdiction of formation, the registered agent's name and addresses, the principal office addresses, the governors' names, a brief description of the business, and the entity's unified business identifier, its UBI.
For a foreign LLC, the report also states the street and mailing address of the principal office in the state or country under whose law the LLC is organized. That is the home office, the same address most of the rest of the filing uses.
The information must be current as of the date the report is executed. If the registered agent's name or address on the report differs from the Secretary of State's records, the report itself operates as a statement of change, so the report can carry an agent update with no separate filing.
RCW 23.95.255RCW 23.95.255 requires a registered foreign entity's annual report to state its name, jurisdiction, agent, principal office addresses, governors, business nature, and UBI number. — Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington, retrieved 2026-09-29
The $70 fee, and what a late one costs
The LLC annual report fee is $70 under the Secretary of State's published fee schedule. Filed with the delinquency charge after the deadline, it is $95.
The real price of missing it is the status, not the $25. Failure to file on or before the expiration date results in delinquent status, and delinquency may lead to administrative dissolution, which ends the registration.
Reinstatement after dissolution is published too: $140 plus all missed annual report fees. The annual report page's warning that the state can administratively dissolve a lapsed registration is the difference between a $70 filing and a three-figure repair.
$70Under the Secretary of State's LLC fee schedule, the annual report fee is $70, or $95 with a delinquency fee, and reinstatement after a lapse costs $140 plus all missed annual report fees. — Washington Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29
Failure to file the annual report on or before the expiration date results in delinquent status and may lead to administrative dissolution. — Washington Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29
The reminder letter is a courtesy, not the deadline
The Secretary of State notifies registered businesses by mail and email 60 days before the expiration date. The notice is provided by statute, and receiving it is not required to enforce the report.
The statute says the rest plainly. RCW 23.95.255(7) states that the failure of the Secretary of State to provide the notice does not relieve a registered foreign entity of its obligations to file the annual report or pay the annual renewal fee.
An out-of-state LLC has every reason to treat the letter as unreliable: the address on file is the registered agent's, the agent may forward late, and the filing obligation arrives whether or not anything reaches Boise or Sacramento. A calendar reminder beats a courtesy notice every year.
60 daysThe Secretary of State notifies registered businesses by regular mail and email 60 days before the annual report due date, and the notice is a courtesy. — Washington Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29
RCW 23.95.255(7)RCW 23.95.255(7) states that failure of the Secretary of State to provide the notice does not relieve a registered foreign entity of its obligation to file. — Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington, retrieved 2026-09-29
Two traps on the filing screen
The first trap is the future effective date. The annual report page carries a customer alert that a report with a future effective date will not show on the public record, the online system then allows multiple submissions, and the corresponding fees are nonrefundable.
The second trap is the amended report. An amended annual report does not satisfy the annual report requirement; it exists to update information outside the filing window, and it carries its own $10 fee under the schedule.
File the plain annual report inside the window, on the day the information is current. Corrections that arrive later go in the amended form, and a second submission with a future effective date is money the schedule keeps.
The Secretary of State's annual report page warns that a report with a future effective date will not show on the public record and its fees are nonrefundable. — Washington Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29
$10An amended annual report does not meet the annual report requirement, and an initial or amended annual report carries a $10 fee under the Secretary of State's LLC fee schedule. — Washington Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29
The report inside the registration's bigger year
The annual report is one of three recurring obligations a registered foreign LLC carries in Washington. The others are the registered agent, which the report can update for free, and the business and occupation tax filings with the Department of Revenue, which run on their own calendar.
The agent and the report travel together. The report states the agent's name and addresses, and a differing entry acts as the change filing, so one careful report can keep both current. The registered agent guide covers the no-fee change in detail.
The tax calendar does not move with the report. Washington's business and occupation tax on an out-of-state LLC can apply on its own nexus facts, which the B&O page takes apart, and the cost breakdown keeps the whole year's fees in one table.
RCW 23.95.255(6) treats registered agent information in an annual report that differs from the Secretary of State's records as a statement of change. — Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington, retrieved 2026-09-29
Questions
Does filing the annual report early change next year's due date?
No. Filing before the expiration month does not change the expiration date. As long as the business does not fall out of active or delinquent status, the expiration day always remains the last day of the month the business first formed, registered, or incorporated.
What if I file the report on the deadline day itself?
Reports submitted on or before the expiration date are honored, and once accepted the status is updated and the filing is placed on public record. Submissions made inside the window keep the registration active even if processing has not finished when the month ends.
Can the annual report bring my LLC back from delinquent status?
No. The delinquent status is cured by filing the overdue report with the delinquency fee, $95 rather than $70, while the registration still exists. Once the registration is administratively dissolved, the repair is reinstatement, published at $140 plus all missed annual report fees.
Is the annual report the same thing as a business license renewal?
No. The annual report keeps the Secretary of State registration active. The business license and its endorsements are separate, through the Department of Revenue and the Business Licensing Service, and their renewals run on their own schedule.