Washington Anonymous LLC: Why You Should Form Elsewhere
Washington requires member and/or manager disclosure on public LLC filings. For anonymous LLC formation, form in Wyoming, New Mexico, Delaware, or Nevada instead.
By Shafwan Ahmed, Operations & Fulfillment Lead, Anonymousllc.co
Updated May 2026
Washington LLC disclosure requirements
Requirement
Washington
Wyoming (recommended)
Member disclosure
Required
Not required
Manager disclosure
Required
Not required
Filing fee
$200
$100
Annual report
$60/year
$60/year
State income tax
None (B&O tax)
None
Why Washington is not recommended for anonymous LLCs
Washington requires both member and manager disclosure on public LLC filings. This means your name appears in the state's business search database, accessible to anyone - competitors, litigants, journalists, data brokers, and the general public.
For genuine anonymity, form your LLC in one of the four anonymous-friendly states: Wyoming, New Mexico, Delaware, or Nevada. If you need to operate in Washington, you can foreign-qualify your anonymous LLC here.
Washington does not provide anonymous LLCs. The Certificate of Formation and the required initial and annual reports filed with the Secretary of State list the LLC's governors, meaning its managers or members, along with addresses. Those records publish to the Corporations and Charities Filing System search, which anyone can query for free, so ownership is on public display.
Washington has no personal income tax, which draws many founders, but it replaces that with the business and occupation (B&O) tax, a levy on gross receipts rather than profit. That means a Washington business can owe B&O tax even in an unprofitable year. The absence of an income tax does not make the state private or necessarily cheaper to operate.
You cannot structure your way to anonymity inside Washington. Because governors covering both managers and members are reportable, and the annual report refreshes that data yearly, naming a manager does not hide ownership. Data brokers and research services scrape the Corporations and Charities filings continuously, so the disclosure spreads beyond the state site.
Washington's no-income-tax reputation hides two costs that matter to a privacy-focused owner. The business and occupation tax reaches gross receipts rather than profit, so a Seattle, Spokane, or Tacoma company can owe the state even in a losing year, and the Corporations and Charities Filing System keeps the governors on public display the whole time. Naming a manager does nothing, because Washington's governor field sweeps in members and managers alike, and the annual report refreshes that listing each year. A founder chasing the state's tax headline ends up with a gross-receipts levy and an open ownership record, which is the opposite of what a formation state should provide.
Form where members are never named publicly. A Wyoming anonymous LLC is $397 all-in with a $60 annual report, New Mexico is $347 total ($297 + $50 state), and Delaware is $407 total. Our anonymous LLC formation service handles the filing, and if you have physical operations in Washington we foreign-qualify the LLC here so you meet the state's requirements while ownership stays recorded only in the anonymous formation state.
Recommended alternative: form elsewhere + foreign-qualify
Form a Wyoming anonymous LLC ($397 all-in) or New Mexico anonymous LLC ($347 total ($297 + $50 state)). If you have physical operations in Washington, foreign-qualify the LLC here. The foreign qualification may require some disclosure in Washington, but your formation state (Wyoming/NM) records remain anonymous. This preserves partial privacy while maintaining local compliance.
For online-only businesses without physical presence in Washington, foreign qualification is typically not required. You can operate the Wyoming or NM LLC without registering in Washington.
Anonymousllc.co pricing for anonymous states
Wyoming: $397 all-in (recommended default)
New Mexico: $347 total ($297 + $50 state) (cheapest)
Delaware: $297 + $110 state fee (VC-track)
Nevada: $722 total ($297 + $425 state) (asset protection)
How does Washington disclose who runs an LLC?
Washington lists an LLC's governors, meaning its managers or members, on the Certificate of Formation and the initial and annual reports, all published in the Corporations and Charities Filing System.
The Corporations and Charities Filing System, or CCFS, is a free public search that returns the governors, the registered agent, and the addresses for every Washington LLC. Because governors cover both managers and members, naming a manager does not withhold ownership, and the annual report refreshes the data each year. Research services and data brokers scrape CCFS on a continuous basis, so a name posted there spreads to commercial databases the state cannot reach. Washington recognizes no confidential filing that removes the governor from the public record.
Does Washington's lack of income tax make it a good LLC home?
Not for privacy or cost. Washington has no personal income tax, but it charges the business and occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts, which can apply in an unprofitable year, and it still lists governors publicly.
The B&O tax is levied on revenue rather than net profit, so a Washington business can owe tax after a loss, and the levy reaches a foreign-qualified out-of-state LLC that does business in the state. The absence of an income tax draws founders, but it neither reduces the filing cost nor closes the disclosure. Washington charges $200 to form and $60 for the annual report, and both keep governor information current in CCFS. A Wyoming anonymous LLC at $397 all-in matches the no-income-tax appeal without the public governor listing.
Can I structure a Washington LLC to hide ownership?
No. Washington reports governors covering both managers and members, so a manager-managed structure still names a real person, and a registered agent only accepts legal mail.
Because the term governor sweeps in members and managers alike, no internal structure keeps the controller off the Certificate of Formation or the annual report. A registered agent supplies a Washington address for service of process and conceals nothing about ownership. A nominee shifts exposure to a stand-in and tangles the IRS responsible-party record tied to the EIN. The only reliable way to stay out of CCFS is to form in a state that never asks for the owner's name.
How do I operate in Washington without exposing my name?
Form a Wyoming or New Mexico anonymous LLC, then foreign-qualify it in Washington only when you have a physical office, employees, or inventory in the state.
The anonymous LLC owns the business, and its ownership stays sealed in the formation state's records. Foreign qualification registers the LLC with the Washington Secretary of State and brings it into B&O reporting for genuine in-state activity, while ownership remains private in the formation state. An online business without Washington nexus does not register at all and serves Washington customers on the out-of-state LLC. We file the Wyoming or New Mexico formation and add the Washington qualification and B&O setup when your operations require it.
Wyoming or New Mexico for a Washington founder?
Wyoming at $397 all-in mirrors Washington's no-income-tax appeal with asset protection; New Mexico at $347 total is the lowest-maintenance option with no annual report and no annual fee.
A Washington founder attracted to the state's lack of income tax finds the same treatment in Wyoming, plus a single $60 annual report, no B&O-style gross-receipts levy, and no governor listing. New Mexico removes recurring state paperwork after formation and costs the least all-in at $347. Both keep members and managers off the public search that CCFS maintains, which a direct Washington filing cannot do. Pick Wyoming for charging-order protection and a clean annual filing; pick New Mexico to minimize ongoing maintenance.
Washington anonymous LLC FAQ
We complete formation in 5 to 10 business days, registered agent and EIN included, with a non-resident EIN by fax adding 5 to 7 days. That matches a Washington Certificate of Formation while keeping your governors off CCFS.
Yes. Once the EIN issues, we open an account with Mercury, Relay, or Bluevine in 8 to 10 days, at about 90% approval. A Washington resident banks the LLC online with no branch visit.
No. Beneficial Ownership Information is filed with FinCEN at the federal level and is not public. It costs $150 per report through us. Nothing in the BOI system feeds the Corporations and Charities Filing System.
The B&O tax applies to the Washington activity of a foreign-qualified LLC with nexus here. An anonymous LLC with no Washington premises, staff, or inventory has no B&O obligation. Forming in Wyoming does not create a Washington filing on its own.
New Mexico at $347 total ($297 + $50 state) is the lowest-cost option and carries no annual report and no annual fee. Wyoming at $397 all-in is the recommended default for asset protection. Both keep members and managers off the public record that Washington's CCFS maintains.
No. Washington's Certificate of Formation and its initial and annual reports list the LLC's governors, meaning managers or members, and that data publishes to the Secretary of State's public search. There is no confidential filing. For privacy, form in Wyoming, New Mexico, or Delaware and foreign-qualify in Washington only if you operate here.
Not for privacy, and not necessarily for cost. Washington has no personal income tax, but it charges the business and occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts, which can apply even in an unprofitable year. It also lists governors publicly, so ownership is exposed regardless of the tax structure.
The business and occupation tax is Washington's tax on gross business receipts rather than net profit. Because it is based on revenue, a business can owe B&O tax even when it loses money. It applies to activity in Washington, including that of a foreign-qualified out-of-state LLC doing business in the state.
Yes. The $60 annual report keeps your governor information current with the Secretary of State, and the record stays public in the Corporations and Charities Filing System. Filing it each year refreshes your name in the state database, which is the exposure an anonymous formation state is designed to prevent.
Form a Wyoming or New Mexico anonymous LLC for genuine privacy. If you have a physical office, employees, or inventory in Washington, foreign-qualify the LLC here and address any B&O tax on local activity. Online-only businesses without Washington nexus do not need to register in the state.
Foreign qualification registers your out-of-state anonymous LLC to do business in Washington while ownership stays recorded only in the formation state. Washington sees the registration needed for compliance and B&O reporting, but your members and managers remain private in the Wyoming or New Mexico records that actually hold ownership.
Form your anonymous LLC in a privacy-friendly state
Wyoming from $397. New Mexico from $347. 5-10 day turnaround.