City guides · Washington
Home of Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing and Costco, a Pacific gateway to Asia, and one of the largest Chinese communities in the country. Washington has no income tax on wages or on company profits, and a company costs little to form and keep. YCL has long served families, engineers, business owners and overseas companies in Seattle and Bellevue — we know how things are done here, we work alongside local professionals, and local small businesses can start with one service on us.
YCL’s CPAs are licensed in multiple states. Many Seattle-area families and businesses have trusted us with their taxes year after year — they build their lives here, and we walk with them, in English or Chinese, entirely online.
Part 1 · Local businesses and partners
Our clients buy homes, open shops and run companies in Seattle, and they need reliable local professionals and businesses. Sign up so we know you and what you do — and choose one of three free services as a welcome.
Once per business, scheduled after we review the sign-up; preparing or filing returns is not included.
We do not sell insurance, homes or loans — but our clients ask about them every day. Sign up as a partner and we refer clients who need you; when your clients need tax returns or a company, send them our way.
How we work together (mutual referrals, joint seminars, shared content) is agreed in writing when we talk; licensed professions, please add your license details.
Part 2 · Taxes and companies
Washington has no income tax on wages, which is why engineers move here from California. But “no income tax” is not “no tax”: large stock sales, payroll deductions, property and estates are all taxed.
There is no corporate income tax either. Instead, Washington taxes gross receipts — you owe it even in a year with no profit — and the rate depends on what the business does.
Seattle has its own business license and business taxes. Bellevue has a city B&O tax too, at lower rates, with an exemption up to $215,000 of gross receipts in 2026 — one reason companies compare the two cities before signing a lease.
A company is formed with the Secretary of State, then licensed with the Department of Revenue, then — if it operates in Seattle — licensed with the city. Three steps, three agencies.
Part 3 · YCL and this city
Everything online: upload documents in the client portal, sign electronically, pay online — in English or Chinese; the important conversations happen face to face on video.
Under-withheld RSU income, ESPP and ISO reporting, the Washington capital gains return, accounts and family in China.
Federal return plus the Washington capital gains return, FBAR and Form 8938, and a plan for when to sell.
About this serviceWhich entity, sales tax in many states, inventory accounting, a foreign owner’s Form 5472.
Formation, monthly books, B&O and sales tax filings, and the year-end returns.
About this serviceWhat to do before becoming a U.S. tax resident; gifts from parents; homes and companies left in China.
Pre-arrival planning, the first-year return, Forms 3520, 5471 and 8621.
About this serviceMonthly B&O and sales tax, Seattle’s city return, payroll and tips, books that are months behind.
Bookkeeping, payroll, state and city filings and the annual return, as one monthly service.
About this serviceSubsidiary or branch, where to register, how to pay the first employee, pricing between parent and subsidiary.
Entity set-up, state and city registrations, payroll, Forms 5472 and 1120 every year.
About this serviceDepreciation never taken, rentals in several states, a foreign owner selling under FIRPTA.
Clean rental books, correct depreciation, multi-state returns and FIRPTA filings.
About this servicePart 4 · The city
Seattle has reinvented itself roughly once a generation — timber, gold, ships, aircraft, software, e-commerce, cloud and now AI. Each wave left behind companies, skilled people and capital, which is why a metropolitan area of about four million people is home to several of the largest companies on earth.
King County alone produces more than half of Washington’s output. Nine Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the area, and the port and airport tie it to Asia more closely than almost any other U.S. region.
The two largest cloud platforms in the world are run from here, and most big technology companies keep engineering offices in Seattle or Bellevue.
Amazon (AWS) · Microsoft (Azure) · Expedia · T-Mobile
From the largest online retailer to warehouse clubs and coffee — consumer brands born here sell worldwide, and a deep bench of sellers and suppliers has grown around them.
Amazon · Costco · Starbucks · Nordstrom · Coupang
Boeing’s commercial aircraft are assembled in Renton and Everett, supported by hundreds of suppliers; heavy trucks are built by Paccar in Bellevue.
Boeing · Paccar · Blue Origin
The ports of Seattle and Tacoma handled about 3.2 million containers (TEUs) in 2025; China is the largest source of imports.
Northwest Seaport Alliance · Expeditors · Alaska Air
University research, cancer centers and one of the world’s largest foundations make the city a center for biotech and public health.
UW Medicine · Fred Hutch · Gates Foundation
One of the densest clusters of game studios in North America, anchored by Japanese and American publishers on the Eastside.
Nintendo of America · Xbox · Valve
Employers come here for engineers. The University of Washington is the anchor, and the technology companies draw graduates from the whole country and the world.
Majority foreign-owned companies directly support about 154,000 jobs in Washington (SelectUSA, August 2026); the largest sources are the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, China and Switzerland, mostly in software, IT and business services.
For a company from abroad the usual first steps are a Washington entity or registration, an EIN, a state business license, payroll accounts and — every year — Form 5472 and transfer pricing between the parent and the U.S. company.
Chinese workers came to Puget Sound in the 1860s and 1870s to build railroads, work in canneries and regrade the city’s hills. In February 1886 a mob expelled some 300 to 350 Chinese residents from Seattle — and yet the community returned and rebuilt. Today’s Chinatown–International District is on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1996 Washington elected Gary Locke, the first Chinese American governor in U.S. history.
The newer community is largely on the Eastside. Nearly half of Bellevue’s residents are Asian and nearly half were born abroad; many work at Microsoft, Amazon and the companies around them. For tax purposes that means stock compensation, accounts and family back home, parents who visit or immigrate, and homes and rentals on both sides of the Pacific.
Yes. YCL is a bilingual (English and Mandarin) CPA firm licensed in multiple states. We serve Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond clients online: documents go through a secure client portal, returns are signed electronically, and meetings are by video.
Not on wages. Washington taxes long-term capital gains at 7% (9.9% above $1 million) after a standard deduction of $278,000 for 2025, and a 9.9% tax on income above $1 million is enacted to begin in 2028, subject to a pending court case. Federal income tax applies as everywhere.
10.55% in the fourth quarter of 2026: the 6.5% state rate plus 4.05% local. Bellevue is 10.3%. Since October 2025 the tax also applies to several services, including advertising, IT services and custom software.
The business and occupation tax is Washington’s tax on a business’s gross receipts, with no deduction for costs. Retailers pay 0.471%, wholesalers and manufacturers 0.484%, and service businesses 1.5% to 2.1% depending on size. Very small businesses are covered by a credit. Seattle charges its own B&O tax on businesses with more than $2 million of revenue.
The state filing fee is $180, a state business license application is $50, and the annual report is $70. A Seattle business also needs the city license, from $73 a year. A registered agent with a Washington address is required; commercial agents usually charge about $100 to $200 a year.
Usually not, unless investors require Delaware. A company doing business in Washington must register here and pay B&O tax whatever its home state, so a second state mostly adds fees and a second annual report.
No. Federal returns are the same in every state, and YCL’s CPAs are licensed in multiple states. We prepare Washington B&O, sales tax and capital gains returns as well as Seattle city returns, and everything — documents, signatures, payment, meetings — is handled online.
Sign up on this page. Local businesses receive one free service of their choice — a tax-saving review, a set of monthly financial statements, or a rental-property clean-up — and insurance, real estate, lending and legal professionals can become referral partners.
Start with a free 15-minute call about your situation; if we are a fit, a written quote follows.
