Staying compliant · Washington

The WA annual report: due date, cost, and the dissolution clock

Every Washington LLC and corporation owes the Secretary of State an annual report. It is the easiest filing on your whole calendar — a few minutes online — and missing it is how healthy companies get administratively dissolved without ever knowing it was coming.

When it's due

Your annual report is due by the end of your anniversary month — the month your company was originally formed. Formed on March 9th? Every report after that is due by March 31st. You can find your date on your company's page in the Corporations & Charities search, and file through the CCFS portal. The filing fee for an LLC is currently about $70 — confirm the current amount on the SOS annual reports page.

Who the reminder actually goes to

The SOS sends courtesy notices — to your registered agent's contact info. If you used a formation service as your registered agent, that notice goes to them, and whether it reaches you depends on an email you may have stopped reading. If you moved and never updated the agent address, it reaches nobody. The state considers you notified either way.

The miss, step by step

Due date passesYour company drops to delinquent status. Public record shows it — anyone who searches you sees it, including GCs and bonding companies running checks.
Delinquency windowYou can still file and pay to cure it. Most owners who catch it here fix it in ten minutes.
Administrative dissolutionKeep missing it and the state dissolves the entity. Your LLC legally stops existing: the liability shield, the name, the standing to sign contracts.
The cascadeFor contractors it compounds: your L&I registration, bond, and insurance are tied to the entity. A dissolved entity can unravel all three at once.
ReinstatementUsually possible for a period after dissolution by filing the missed reports and fees — but your name is only protected for so long, and the paperwork now costs multiples of the $70 you skipped.

Exact windows and fees change; the current rules live on the SOS page linked above.

Why this one gets missed

It's annual. Nothing about your daily business touches it, the notice goes to an agent instead of you, and by year three the formation month is trivia you've forgotten. It's the textbook case for a reminder that arrives ahead of the date, every year, without you maintaining anything.

Never learn about dissolution from a customer

Contractor Lane's deadline reminders email you before your annual report month, your excise returns, license renewals, and every employer filing. Built for Washington. $20/month, cancel anytime.

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Self-help information with official source links, not legal advice. Fees, notice practices, and reinstatement windows change — verify with the Secretary of State before relying on them. © 2026 Contractor Lane.