Form an LLC in Alaska: Total Cost & Filing Steps (2026)

Alaska LLC Cost: $250 Filing + $100 Biennial Report (2026)

Forming an LLC in Alaska costs $250 to file Articles of Organization with the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (CBPL), with a free Initial Report due within 6 months of formation, then a $100 biennial report every two years. Year-one cost: $250. Five-year cost of ownership: $450 (filing + two biennial cycles). Alaska has no state personal income tax and no statewide sales tax, but it does require an Alaska Business License separate from the LLC filing (an additional $50/yr).

Reviewed by LLC Formation Cost Editorial Team, fact-checked against primary government sources • Last updated 2026-05-14 • 5 primary government sources cited

TL;DR

Alaska LLCs file Articles of Organization (Form 08-484) with the Alaska Division of Corporations for $250. An Initial Report listing managers/members is due within 6 months and is free. The biennial report cycle then kicks in at $100 every two years. Alaska is one of only nine states with no personal income tax and the only one of those with no statewide sales tax (local sales tax varies by borough, typically 0-7%). Most Alaska LLCs also need an Alaska Business License, a $50/yr fee administered by the same CBPL division but separate from the LLC formation. There is no franchise tax. Online filings are processed within 0-1 business day.

Alaska LLC cost breakdown (2026)

Line item	Cost	Source
Articles of Organization (Form 08-484)	$250	commerce.alaska.gov
Initial Report (within 6 months)	$0	commerce.alaska.gov
Biennial Report (every 2 years)	$100	commerce.alaska.gov
Alaska Business License (most activities)	$50/yr	commerce.alaska.gov/web/cbpl/businesslicensing
Registered Agent service (Alaska-resident required)	$50-$200/yr	n/a
Year 1 total (DIY, with business license)	$300
Year 2 ongoing	$50
Year 3 (biennial report year)	$150
5-year total (DIY, with license)	$700

All figures verified 2026-05-14 from primary Alaska state sources.

Why Alaska is an underrated formation state

Alaska gets ignored in most "best state for an LLC" comparisons because of its remoteness and registered agent burden, but the underlying economics are quietly attractive:

• No state personal income tax. Alaska is one of nine no-income-tax states, alongside Texas, Florida, Wyoming, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, and New Hampshire (NH still taxes interest/dividends).
• No statewide sales tax. Local sales tax exists in many boroughs (Juneau 5%, Sitka 5%, Ketchikan 6.5%), but there is no state-level sales tax layer. This matters for e-commerce LLCs with Alaska nexus.
• No franchise tax. The $100 biennial report is a flat fee, not a percentage tax.
• Biennial cadence. Paying $100 every two years means the effective annual cost is $50, lower than most states' annual reports.
• Online turnaround is near-instant. CBPL processes online filings same-day to next-day at no extra charge.

The catches: you need a registered agent with a physical Alaska street address (P.O. boxes don't qualify), and the Alaska Business License is a separate paperwork stream. Non-resident formations are legally permitted but add registered agent cost (most Alaska RA services charge $99-$150/yr).

Filing steps (DIY, no service)

1. Pick a name and check availability, search at the Alaska CBPL business name search. Names must include "Limited Liability Company," "LLC," or "L.L.C." and cannot imply governmental authority.
2. Hire an Alaska registered agent, required by AS 10.50.055. Must have an Alaska street address. Budget services run $99-$150/yr.
3. File Articles of Organization (Form 08-484), $250 fee. File online at the CBPL portal or by mail to State of Alaska, Corporations Section, P.O. Box 110806, Juneau, AK 99811-0806.
4. Get a federal EIN, free at irs.gov.
5. Apply for an Alaska Business License, $50/yr via the CBPL Business Licensing portal. Required for nearly all commercial activity.
6. File the Initial Report, free, due within 6 months of formation. Lists managers, members, and the registered agent.
7. Draft an operating agreement, not required by Alaska statute but standard practice. The Alaska Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (AS 10.50) recognizes operating agreements as binding.
8. Open a business bank account, Alaska-licensed banks (First National Bank Alaska, Northrim Bank, Wells Fargo Alaska) are easiest. Out-of-state banks may require notarized formation documents.
9. File the FinCEN BOI report, required under the Corporate Transparency Act within 30 days of formation. Free to self-file at fincen.gov/boi.
10. Calendar the biennial report, due January 2 of the second year after formation, then every two years. $100 fee.

Online Articles of Organization filings are typically processed in 0-1 business day. There is no published expedite fee because the standard turnaround is already fast.

Page-unique facts

• Alaska's biennial cycle puts it in a club of seven states. California, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Ohio (no report), and Alaska are the seven states with non-annual report cadences for LLCs. Alaska is the only no-income-tax state in that group with a $100 biennial fee.
• No statewide sales tax. Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon are the five no-statewide-sales-tax states. Alaska is the only one with significant local sales tax overlay (Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, others). E-commerce LLCs with Alaska nexus should check the local rate.
• The Alaska Business License is separate from the LLC filing. Many founders complete the Articles of Organization, then forget the $50/yr business license, then get a compliance letter months later.
• Initial Report is free but mandatory. Alaska is unusual in pairing a free Initial Report (within 6 months) with a paid biennial report later. Miss the initial and the LLC can be involuntarily dissolved by the CBPL.
• Permanent Fund Dividend does not apply to LLCs. The PFD is paid to individual Alaska residents, not entities. Forming an Alaska LLC does not entitle the entity or its members to PFD.

FAQ

Is Alaska a good state to form a non-resident LLC in?

It depends. The no-income-tax and no-sales-tax structure is attractive on paper, but you'll need a registered agent with an Alaska street address ($99-$150/yr), and the Alaska Business License adds $50/yr. The 5-year baseline cost ($700 with license) is higher than Wyoming ($340) or New Mexico ($50). For most non-resident formations, Wyoming or New Mexico offers better economics. Alaska makes sense if you have genuine Alaska nexus (real estate, fishing operations, oil services, tourism). Source: Alaska CBPL, verified 2026-05-14.

When is the Alaska biennial report due?

The first biennial report is due January 2 of the year following the year of formation. For an LLC formed in 2026, the first biennial report is due January 2, 2027. After that, every two years on January 2. The fee is $100. Miss it by more than six months and the entity goes into "noncompliant" status; miss it by two years and the CBPL can administratively dissolve the LLC. Source: Alaska CBPL Corporations FAQ, verified 2026-05-14.

Do I need an Alaska Business License if my LLC has no Alaska revenue?

Generally yes if your LLC is "doing business" in Alaska under AS 43.70. The Alaska Business License is required for nearly all commercial activity in the state. There are narrow exemptions (some interstate motor carriers, certain federal contracts). A holding LLC with no operations may not need a license, but the line is fact-dependent. Source: Alaska CBPL Business Licensing.

How long does Alaska LLC formation take?

Online filings via the CBPL portal: 0-1 business day. Mail filings: 10-15 business days. There is no separate expedite fee because online turnaround is already next-business-day. Source: Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing, verified 2026-05-14.

Does Alaska have a franchise tax or state income tax on LLCs?

No to both. Alaska has no personal state income tax (LLCs taxed as pass-through entities owe nothing to Alaska on LLC profits) and no LLC franchise tax. Alaska does have a corporate income tax that applies to C-corporations and to LLCs that elect C-corp federal status; the rates are graduated from 0% to 9.4%. A standard pass-through LLC with no C-corp election owes Alaska $0 in income tax at the entity level. Source: Alaska Department of Revenue Tax Division.

Are Alaska LLC owner names public?

Yes, the Initial Report and biennial report require disclosure of the LLC's managers (for manager-managed LLCs) or members (for member-managed LLCs), and that information is on the public CBPL database. Alaska is not a privacy-friendly state in the way Wyoming, New Mexico, or Delaware are. If owner anonymity matters, Alaska is not the right state. Source: Alaska CBPL Search.

State quirk: the free Initial Report

Alaska is the rare state that requires a separate, free Initial Report on top of the paid Articles of Organization. AS 10.50.760 requires the Initial Report to be filed within six months of LLC formation, listing every member or manager along with their addresses. The CBPL doesn't charge for this filing, but missing it is a fast track to administrative dissolution: after six months of non-compliance, the state can simply close the LLC. The reason for the design choice goes back to the original 1995 Alaska LLC Act, modeled in part on California's structure but adapted to Alaska's frontier-state administrative tradition of keeping public records of who actually runs every entity. The Initial Report effectively serves as Alaska's substitute for member disclosure on the Articles of Organization themselves, which only require the organizer's name. Combine that with the biennial-only cadence afterward and you get a state that wants to know who's running the LLC upfront, then leaves it alone for two years at a stretch.

Common mistake in Alaska

The most common Alaska LLC mistake is filing the Articles of Organization, paying the $250, and then forgetting the Alaska Business License ($50/yr) and the Initial Report (free, within 6 months). The Initial Report omission is the dangerous one: after six months the CBPL flags the LLC as noncompliant, and after roughly two years of inaction the state can administratively dissolve the entity. The business license omission is less dangerous but generates compliance letters and back-fees if the state notices the LLC has been operating without one.

Sources

1. Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing, last verified 2026-05-14
2. Alaska CBPL Business Licensing, last verified 2026-05-14
3. Alaska Statutes Title 10 Chapter 50 (Alaska Revised LLC Act), last verified 2026-05-14
4. Alaska Department of Revenue Tax Division, last verified 2026-05-14
5. IRS Publication 3402, Taxation of Limited Liability Companies, last verified 2026-05-14
6. IRS Apply for an Employer Identification Number Online, last verified 2026-05-14

About the author

Aissam Baidi is the founder and researcher behind llcformationcost.com. He verifies Alaska LLC fees directly from commerce.alaska.gov on a quarterly cycle. Connect on LinkedIn.

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Not legal advice. Estimates based on publicly available data from each state's Secretary of State office. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.

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This is a syndicated post. Original article + interactive calculator: https://llcformationcost.com/alaska-llc-cost/