March 14, 2022

If you received a reminder to file your Personal Financial Affairs Statement (F-1) and don't understand why, read on.

You might fall into one of the categories of filers who are often surprised to find out they owe another F-1 report:

  • An elected official who retired or resigned their position last year. Under WAC 390-24-025, elected officials must file F-1s for the portion of the year they were in office.
  • A state official who has completed their term. Often state officials are in office until early January, when their successors are sworn in. If the term of office extends to Jan. 1 or later, an F-1 report for the previous year — plus that portion of the new year served — is required. 
  • A newly appointed state or local official who filed last year within two weeks of their appointment. Since that filing would have been for the previous 12 months preceding the appointment date, it would not cover the entire calendar year. Therefore, a new calendar-year report is due. 
  • Similarly, candidates who won the election last year will owe another report this year because their past filing would not have covered the entire calendar year. 

Here's a complete list of the elected and appointed officials who file F-1 reports:

  • Elected officials in jurisdictions with at least 2,000 registered voters as of the last general election.
  • State agency directors
  • Members of certain state boards and commissions as set forth in RCW 42.17A.705(4)
  • Legislative and gubernatorial professional staff members
  • State four-year university and college presidents, regents, and trustees
  • Community college district and campus presidents and trustees
  • Technical college trustees
  • Charter school directors

Please file your F-1 no later than April 15. You can electronically file here. Instructions on how to complete an F-1 are available at our website.  

We also have videos explaining F-1 filing for new filers and returning filers.

Keep in mind no one is required to file multiple F-1 reports in a calendar year, regardless of how many offices a person holds that have the F-1 filing requirement.