Washington has no state income tax to withhold from wages - but unemployment insurance still applies.
Unemployment insurance onlyWashington does not tax wages, so there is no state income tax withholding to run. That is not the same as having no state payroll obligation. Every state operates an unemployment insurance system, and an employer with an employee in Washington must still register with the state workforce agency, report wages and pay contributions. Reading "no income tax" as "nothing owed to the state" is the single most common way employers here end up unregistered and assessed for back quarters.
No income tax withholding, but Washington runs Paid Family and Medical Leave and the WA Cares Fund, both of which are payroll deductions. An employer here has more to run than the absence of an income tax suggests.
Your unemployment insurance rate is assigned to your business specifically and revised each year, and the taxable wage base changes most years too. Those numbers come from the Washington agencies rather than from this page - anything quoted here would be stale within a year, and an employer relying on a stale wage base underpays.
State agency directoryNo. Washington does not tax wages, so there is no state income tax to withhold and no withholding account to open. You still register for unemployment insurance.
Yes. Every state and the District of Columbia runs an unemployment insurance system, and an employer with an employee working in Washington registers with the state workforce agency, reports wages quarterly and pays contributions. This applies whether or not the state taxes wages.
They come from the state agencies, not from here. Unemployment rates are assigned per employer and revised annually, wage bases change most years, and withholding tables are reissued. A page that quoted a figure would be wrong within a year, and an employer relying on a stale wage base underpays and finds out at assessment.
No. Form 941 and Form 940 are federal and continue regardless of which state your employees are in. State registration is in addition to them, never instead.