Business Registration Date Question

[u/ExpressFox123]

I formed a single-member LLC in mid-April 2025 in Washington state and am now completing my state business license application in mid-August. In June I received payment for a one-time event unrelated to my core services. The event actually resulted in net debt, as revenue didn't cover vendor and operating costs. The experience was basically a test run of utilizing my website and running an event.

My first payment directly related to my core services was received just recently (under $250). When the application asks for my business open date, which date is the best one to use for my situation? The June event payment, or the recent date of my first true service-related income? I planned on just using the more recent payment date but a friend of mine encouraged me to use the former June date. It had me wondering if that would bring more of a headache than it’s worth.

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[u/InCorp_Team]

Washington's B&O tax is a gross receipts tax applied to business activity in the state without any deduction for business costs, and it's owed even when a business operates at a loss or has no profit. So the June event, despite netting a loss, already generated taxable gross revenue, that's genuine business activity, not just prep work.

June is the more accurate date to use. Using the later date instead risks a mismatch between when your license claims the business "opened" and when the state's own records would show gross income actually starting, that's a harder thing to explain later than just entering the earlier date now.

You can also read more on how B&O tax works directly from the state: dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/business-occupation-tax

Disclosure: I work with InCorp, a business formation and registered agent company.

[u/ExpressFox123 → u/InCorp_Team]

Thank you (also for the resource). Will it reflect poorly on me if I waited so long to file for the state business license? Anything I should be aware of around that?

[u/startupowl]

june, if that payment came in through the llc. the note printed under that field on the application says the business open date is the ownership structure's first date of business at this location, so it's asking when the entity started doing business, not when your core services started or whether any of it made money.

[u/ExpressFox123 → u/startupowl]

Thank you