Register your business in Alaska

LLCs, corporations, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships file with the Corporations Section of the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing, in the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development¹⁰. A sole proprietorship or a general partnership has no formation filing. An entity filing is not a business license⁴. Almost everyone who engages in business still needs the state business license on Licenses and permits.

What’s different in Alaska

• Two official pages list different LLC formation fees. The regulation says $150 to organize an LLC or to register a foreign one. The May 2026 form says $250² and $350³. A corporation’s $250¹ is the $150 filing fee plus its first $100⁷ biennial corporation tax, paid up front.
• The yearly filing is every two years, due before January 2. An LLC formed in an even year files in even years. One formed in an odd year files in odd years. The division’s example: an entity registered in 2026 files its first biennial report in 2028⁴.
• The business cannot treat its license as a name reservation. The department will issue more than one business license in the exact same name. Exclusive rights are a separate $25¹⁰ registration.
• The registered agent is a person who lives here, or a corporation. The statute does not allow an LLC to serve as the agent.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit, partnership, or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor or general partnership has no formation filing and can skip to the business license. Pick an entity compares them. A licensed profession may also need a professional license. The Corporations Section will not tell you which structure fits.
2. Check the name on the division’s corporation search, from the instructions on Create or file a new entity. An LLC name must contain the words limited liability company, or the abbreviation L.L.C. or LLC. Limited may be abbreviated Ltd. and company may be abbreviated Co. It must be distinguishable on the department's records from every other organized entity and from a reserved or registered name. A corporation name must contain corporation, company, incorporated, or limited, or an abbreviation of one of those words⁷. Search the web and the federal trademark database too.
3. Reserve the name only if you are not ready to file. It is $25 and lasts 120 days. File form 08-559. The regulation requires a statement of intent only when a reservation is renewed more than twice within 12 months⁷, and that regulation (3 AAC 16.010) is the rule. The reservation form says it may only be renewed twice, and that a renewal must include a statement of intent to start a business⁹.
4. Choose a registered agent. The agent can be an individual who lives in Alaska and whose business office is the registered office, or a domestic or foreign corporation authorized to transact business in Alaska whose business office is that same office. A change of agent is one of the documents the LLC regulation prices at $25⁷.
5. File the formation document. Use the forms page. File online for immediate processing. Hard copy is normally 10 to 15 business days, and longer during the April to June and October to December biennial reporting periods¹. The regulation also sets an extra expedited-filing fee of $150. The commissioner may offer expedited filings⁷.* The forms page does not mention that extra fee. Check the payment screen. What you receive is an Alaska Entity Number⁴.
6. File the initial report if your entity is on the list. It is due within 6 months of the date the entity is registered. It applies to domestic LLCs, business corporations, professional corporations, and nonprofit corporations. Foreign entities do not file it.⁴ The forms table lists its fee as no charge¹.
7. Get the business license before you engage in business, unless an exemption on Licenses and permits covers the whole activity. Then calendar the biennial report.

By structure

LLC

File Articles of Organization¹ (form 08-0484). The regulation fee is $150⁷. The May 2026 form lists $250².* Check the total when you pay. The company is member-managed or manager-managed. Do not file the operating agreement. The Corporations Section does not keep it.⁴

The biennial report is $100, due before January 2 of each even-numbered year if the company was formed in an even-numbered year, and each odd-numbered year if it was formed in an odd-numbered year. It is delinquent if it is not filed before February 1. The division’s example is that an entity registered in 2026 files its first biennial report in 2028⁴. The regulation (3 AAC 16.065) adds a late charge of $25 for each year or part of a year, plus 10%⁷ of the filing fee and that late charge. For a domestic LLC that comes to $137.50⁵, the total the biennial FAQ lists on or after February 2.

Missing it long enough means the company is six months late on the biennial report, or on a fee or penalty. The state mails notice first. If you do not correct it within 60 days, the state can dissolve the company. Reinstatement is within two years of the certificate of involuntary dissolution, if you pay double the amount that was delinquent, plus the amount the company would have paid if it had not been dissolved. After dissolution, another company may adopt the name six months or later after the dissolution⁷.

Corporation

File Articles of Incorporation (form 08-400). You pay $250¹: the $150 filing fee in the regulation plus the first $100 biennial corporation tax. The statute requires fees, including the biennial corporation tax, to be paid in advance. The name must contain corporation, company, incorporated, or limited, or an abbreviation of one of those words⁷. A corporation must have authorized shares. Zero is not allowed.⁴ The filing fee in the statute is not based on how many shares you authorize.

The corporation then pays a biennial corporation tax of $100 before January 2 on the same odd-or-even schedule. If the tax is not paid before February 1, the statute adds a penalty of $25 for each year or part of a year. A report not filed before February 1 also owes a penalty of 10%⁷ of the corporation tax. The division’s biennial FAQ lists $137.50⁵ for a domestic report filed on or after February 2.* The statutes and the FAQ do not give the same total for a corporation. Check the total when you file. A corporation that has not paid the tax and filed the report may not start a lawsuit in an Alaska court.

A professional corporation’s articles are form 08-424 on the forms page, listed at $250¹, the same as a business corporation. The Professional Corporation Act applies the Alaska Corporations Code to professional corporations, with the same duties as other corporations⁷, so the same filing fee and biennial corporation tax apply. S corporation status is a federal election on Form 2553¹³. Alaska then treats the corporation as exempt from the corporate income tax, but not from the requirement to file¹⁴.

Nonprofit

File articles on form 08-438¹. The regulation fee is $50. The corporation needs at least three directors and at least three incorporators⁴. Nonprofit corporations organized under AS 10.20 do not pay the biennial corporation tax. It still files a biennial report: $25, due before July 2 of the even or odd year that matches the year of formation⁷, or $30⁵ with the late fee on or after August 2.

The State of Alaska does not grant tax-exempt status. That designation comes from the IRS.¹⁵ If the nonprofit is involuntarily dissolved, it cannot be reinstated. File new articles.⁶ Past formation, the rest of this series is written for for-profit businesses.

Partnership

A sole proprietorship or a general partnership does not register with the Corporations Section¹⁶.

A limited partnership files a Certificate of Limited Partnership, form 08-508¹ for $150⁷. The regulation and the forms page list the same fee.

A limited liability partnership files a Statement of Qualification, form 08-524¹ for $150. The name must end with Registered Limited Liability Partnership, Limited Liability Partnership, R.L.L.P., L.L.P., RLLP, or LLP. The biennial report is $100⁷, on the January 2 schedule. The statute lets the department revoke the qualification if the report or the fee is missed, after at least 60 days’ notice. Reinstatement is available within two years. Revocation ends the limited-liability-partnership status. It is not, by itself, a dissolution of the partnership.

Sole proprietorship

No formation filing. You still need the business license unless an exemption covers everything you do. A name other than your own is not protected by that license. The exclusive-rights registration is below.

Business names

The business license prints the name you will use, but it does not reserve it. The department will issue more than one business license in the exact same name. File form 08-557 when you want exclusive rights. Get the Alaska business license first. The fee is $25. A business name registration is for exclusive rights to that name. The name cannot contain a corporate identifier such as corporation or limited liability company, or an abbreviation of those words. An entity already on the Corporations Section records does not register its legal name again¹⁰. A DBA here is that registration, and it does give exclusive rights for the term of the filing. It expires on December 31 of its fifth year, and may be renewed every five years starting October 1 of the year it expires¹¹. Renew it on form 08-560. Someone else who uses a name that is not distinguishable can be taken to court. The registration is not a trademark.

Formed in another state

A foreign LLC files a Certificate of Registration for a Foreign LLC. Attach a certificate of good standing (or equivalent) from the LLC's home jurisdiction. The regulation fee is $150, while the May 2026 form lists $350³ as a nonrefundable filing fee.* A foreign corporation files a Certificate of Authority¹. The form prints its fee as the $150 filing fee plus the $200 biennial corporation tax, $350⁸ in all. Foreign entities must use the state’s forms. You still need an Alaska registered agent. The foreign biennial report is $200 for an LLC and $200⁷ for a corporation. The division will not decide whether a foreign entity has to register. That call belongs to the entity or its lawyer.¹⁶ The statute lists activities that do not, by themselves, count as transacting business, including one isolated transaction finished within 30 days. The list depends on the entity type. If you are not sure you are on it, check with a legal professional. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

What you get back

Your accepted filing and an Alaska Entity Number⁴. You will need the accepted filing for your EIN and your bank. The business license is a separate document. If the biennial report goes unpaid long enough for the state to dissolve the company, reinstatement is within two years of the certificate of involuntary dissolution, and another company may adopt the name six months or later after the dissolution⁷.