Stay compliant in Alaska

Alaska’s recurring dates are a biennial report before January 2, a business license that expires on December 31, corporate income tax in the spring for corporations, local sales tax where a municipality charges it, and employer accounts if you have people on the payroll. The dissolution notice goes to your registered agent, so keep that address current.

What’s different in Alaska

• The company filing is every two years, not every year. An LLC and a corporation follow the odd or even year they were formed. The due date is before January 2.
• There is no personal income-tax return to the state. Corporations still file. The return is due 30 days after the federal return is due⁵.
• The business license has its own December 31, and a license issued on or after October 1 covers extra time.
• Workers’ compensation starts with one part-time employee. Unemployment tax is paid by the employer and the employee.
• The minimum wage rose on July 1, 2026. It is $14 an hour from that date, and $15⁸ from July 1, 2027.

Do this

1. File the biennial report before January 2 in your filing year. For an LLC, the fee is $100 and the report is 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: an entity registered in 2026 files its first biennial report in 2028¹³. A foreign LLC pays $200¹. File it from the forms page. The reporting period opens three months before the due date.
2. If the report is late, do not guess the penalty. The LLC regulation adds $25 for each year or part of a year, plus 10% of the filing fee and that late charge. For a domestic LLC that comes to $137.50. The corporation statutes add $25 for each year or part of a year if the biennial corporation tax is not paid before February 1, and 10%¹ of the tax if the report is not filed before February 1. The division’s biennial FAQ lists $137.50² for a domestic report filed on or after February 2.* For a corporation, the statutes and the FAQ do not give the same total. Check the total when you file.
3. For a corporation, pay the biennial corporation tax of $100 ($200 if the corporation is foreign) on that same January 2 schedule. Nonprofit corporations organized under AS 10.20 do not pay the biennial corporation tax. A nonprofit still files a biennial report: $25, due before July 2 of the even or odd year that matches the year of formation, or $30² if late on or after August 2. A limited liability partnership’s biennial fee is $100¹.
4. Renew the business license before it expires. The fee is $50 for one year or $100 for two. A first license issued on or after October 1 also covers the following calendar year for an annual license, or the following two calendar years for a two-year license. A license expired for more than two years cannot be renewed. Apply for a new one.⁴ The first renewal fee after a new license is not prorated. Details and the exemptions are on Licenses and permits.
5. File corporate income tax if you are a C corporation, and the Alaska filing if you are an S corporation. The return is due 30 days after the federal return is due. Electronic filing is required. Payment is due generally the 15th day of the fourth month after the tax year ends, and payment is not extended. The tax uses graduated rates from 0% to 9.4% over ten brackets, from zero when taxable income is under $25,000 to $10,830 plus 9.4% of taxable income over $222,000. An S corporation is exempt from the corporate income tax, but not from the requirement to file. People do not file an Alaska personal income-tax return: the chapter does not apply to an individual¹⁴. Alaska follows the federal tax treatment of an LLC. An LLC that files a federal partnership return generally files a state partnership return if any partner is a corporation or another pass-through entity.⁵
6. File local sales tax if a municipality requires it. The State of Alaska does not levy a sales tax. There is no state sales-tax return. Get the form from the municipality where you did the business.⁶ Rates and the city-plus-borough rule are on Get your tax IDs.
7. If you have employees, keep the unemployment account current. Reports are due by the end of the month after the quarter ends. For example, the quarter ending March 31, 2026, was due April 30, 2026. File a zero report for a quarter with no payroll if you expect to have employees later. The 2026 wage base is $54,200. For 2026, rates run from 1% to 5.40% for employers, and 0.50% for employees⁷. The employee pays a portion of unemployment insurance, and that portion is deducted from wages¹⁵. Report new hires and rehires to the Child Support Enforcement Division within 20¹² days.
8. Carry workers’ compensation if you have even one part-time employee. Coverage is required once the business has even one part-time employee. There is no exemption for family members or friends. The policy must be bound in Alaska. Coverage bound in another state is not recognized.⁸ Deducting the premium from wages, or calling an employee a contractor to avoid the policy, is a crime under the workers’ compensation act. The pamphlet points employers to the division’s employer guide for the rest of the rules.
9. Pay at least the minimum wage, and overtime where it applies. The minimum wage is $14 an hour from July 1, 2026, and $15 from July 1, 2027, then annual adjustment by the Anchorage consumer price index, starting January 1, 2028. Check Wage and Hour before you set a rate. Overtime is 1.5 times the regular rate after 8 hours in a workday or 40 straight-time hours in a workweek, unless an exemption applies⁸. Alaska’s overtime law does not apply to an employee of an employer that employs fewer than four employees in the regular course of business¹⁰. Federal overtime is separate: an employee the federal law covers and does not exempt is paid time and one-half the regular rate for hours over 40¹¹ in a workweek.
10. Replace a registered agent who leaves. The company can be dissolved if it has failed for 30 days to keep an agent, after notice. The change is priced with the other LLC documents at $25. If the business was dissolved, reinstatement for an LLC or a business corporation is within two years of the certificate of involuntary dissolution¹. A nonprofit cannot be reinstated. File new articles.³

Employer rules

Workers’ compensation, from the Department of Labor pamphlet: required once the business has even one part-time employee. There is no exemption for family members or friends. The policy must be bound in Alaska. Coverage bound in another state is not recognized.⁸ Who counts as an employee is the independent-contractor test in AS 23.30.230. The pamphlet says that test is all-inclusive.

Unemployment: Register if the organization has employed one or more people for some portion of a day¹⁶. File quarterly, by the end of the month after the quarter ends⁷, including a zero report when you expect employees later. The 2026 wage base is $54,200¹⁵.

Minimum wage: $14 from July 1, 2026, then $15⁸ from July 1, 2027. Some workers are exempt. The pamphlet says the ballot measure changed the rate, not who it applies to.

What you get back

A filed biennial report, a current business license, a corporate income-tax filing if you are a corporation, local sales-tax filings where a municipality requires them, and current employer accounts. If a report is missed long enough for the state to dissolve the LLC, the reinstatement window is within two years of the certificate of involuntary dissolution, and another company may adopt the name six months or later after the dissolution¹.