COMPANY FORMATION
Washington State allows entrepreneurs and other business people to incorporate several corporate structures. Some of these structures allow for the separation between the legal entity with the roles of ownership and control. Other company forms can see the company and its owners as one. The following company structures are available for incorporation in Washington State: Sole Proprietorship, General Partnership, Limited Partnership, Limited Liability Partnership, Limited Liability Company, Corporation and the Non-profit Corporation. This diversity in company structures invites for a decent understanding of the features and benefits to ensure the most suitable solution.
Legal Floris LLC and Equation CS assist professionals to make the right choice for incorporation both location wise as well as structure wise. The process to form a company in Washington State is relatively straightforward but deserves attention.
The first step aspirant businesses should take is to decide on the preferred company structure. When the structure is concluded, an available business name must be chosen. The name of the business must be sufficiently different from other business names filed with the corporate registry. Furthermore, several words or phrases are prohibited as their meaning possibly creates ambiguity. This is also one of the reasons that business in Washington State need to have an active Business License to permit trading. Yet, a business license application can only be filed after a director is appointed, the articles of incorporation are filed with the Secretary of State, the Bylaws are created, and the organizational meeting has taken place.
Even though companies formed in Washington State have several tax benefits, an Employer Identification Number (EIN) must be requested. The Business and Occupation (B&O) tax is paid on a monthly or quarterly basis and is based on the corporate activities and the state excise tax return filed by the business, but only when the gross revenue exceeds 7.000 USD in a quarter. Last but not least, the company is required to file an annual report and renew its business license annually.