Alaska sales tax on invoices (2026 guide)

Alaska has no statewide sales tax, so the state rate is 0%. But that doesn't mean every Alaska invoice is tax-free: many boroughs and cities levy their own sales taxes, and each sets its own rate, exemptions and rules.

If you sell into Alaska from elsewhere, there's one more piece: the Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission (ARSSTC), which lets remote sellers register once and collect the local taxes of its member jurisdictions. This guide explains how local tax works, what ARSSTC means for your invoices, and what to show on them.

Alaska sales tax rates

Local taxes in Alaska come with features you won't see in most states:

• Borough and city taxes can stack. In the Kenai Peninsula Borough, for example, the borough's 3% applies, and cities such as Homer or Seward add their own rate.
• Some rates are seasonal. ARSSTC's rate sheet lists Sitka at 6% from April to September and 5% from October to March, and Ketchikan city at 5.5% in summer and 3% in winter.
• Many jurisdictions cap the tax. Kenai Peninsula Borough taxes only the first $500 of a sale (a maximum of $15 in borough tax), Wasilla taxes the first $500 (a maximum of $12.50), and Juneau caps tax on a single item or service at $750 (the tax on $15,000).

Always check the current rate sheet and cap table for the delivery address — ARSSTC updates its rate sheet regularly.

Is what you sell taxable in Alaska?

Because each borough and city writes its own sales tax code, taxability varies by community. There's no single statewide list of taxable goods or services.

That said, local sales taxes in Alaska often reach further than in many states. The ARSSTC uniform code defines "services" broadly — including professional services, and services delivered electronically — and member jurisdictions apply their own exemptions on top. If you're a freelancer or consultant selling into a taxing community, don't assume your services are exempt; check that jurisdiction's code or ask its finance department.

Registering to collect Alaska sales tax

Who you register with depends on where you are:

• Businesses with a physical presence in a borough or city register with that local government and file local returns there. If they also make remote sales delivered into a different member jurisdiction, the ARSSTC code says those remote sales are reported to the Commission.
• Remote sellers — with no physical presence in a member jurisdiction — register with ARSSTC once their statewide gross sales delivered into Alaska reach $100,000 in the current or previous calendar year. All gross sales count toward the threshold. The former 200-transaction test was removed effective January 1, 2025.
• Marketplace facilitators collect and remit for all of their marketplace sellers on all sales into Alaska.

Under the ARSSTC code, returns are due monthly, and quarterly or less frequent filing is available only if the Commission approves it.

What ARSSTC means for your invoices

Once you're registered with ARSSTC, you charge the local tax of the place of delivery, not of your own location. For electronic sales with no delivery address, the code says to use the buyer's billing address. The rate depends on the borough or city — and sometimes the season — and you apply that jurisdiction's caps and exemptions.

The code says the tax is added to the sales price. It may be included in the price only where that substantially helps the buyer and seller, and the seller clearly tells the buyer tax is being charged. On an invoice, the simplest approach is to show it as its own line.

A good Alaska invoice shows:

• your business name and address,
• the customer's name and delivery address (it decides the tax),
• a unique invoice number and the invoice date,
• each item or service with its price,
• local sales tax as a separate line, naming the jurisdiction and rate, and
• the total due.

Resale and exemption certificates

Exemptions are set locally, and the ARSSTC code says they're narrowly construed. Sellers are responsible for documenting valid exemptions with certificates or other authorized means, and buyers are responsible for keeping a current exemption certificate.

For resale, a remote seller with no physical presence in a member jurisdiction that buys goods or services to resell there applies to ARSSTC for a Remote Reseller Certificate of Exemption, which expires at the end of the calendar year it is issued. Businesses with a physical presence follow the exemption and resale rules of their own borough or city. See how to invoice a tax-exempt customer.

A worked example

You're a remote seller registered with ARSSTC and you ship a $2,000 piece of equipment — one item — to two different customers.

• Delivered to Juneau (5%): $2,000 × 5% = $100.00 in tax, for a total of $2,100.00. The $750 single-item cap isn't reached.
• Delivered to Wasilla (2.5%, first $500 only): $500 × 2.5% = $12.50 in tax, for a total of $2,012.50.

Same product, same price — very different tax, because the delivery address decides the rate and the cap.

Selling to customers in other states

If you're an Alaska business shipping goods or delivering services to customers in other states, those states' rules may apply. Since the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, states can require out-of-state sellers to register and collect their sales tax once sales into the state pass a threshold the state sets. Check the thresholds of each state you sell into, and use that state's rate on those invoices. Our sales tax calculator can help with the math.

Common mistakes on Alaska invoices

• Assuming "no state sales tax" means no tax at all. Local taxes apply in many communities.
• Using your own city's rate on remote sales instead of the delivery location's.
• Ignoring caps, which can limit tax to the first few hundred dollars of a sale.
• Forgetting seasonal rates in communities that change rates between summer and winter.
• Assuming services are exempt without checking the local code.

Quick checklist for Alaska invoices

• ✅ Registered with your local borough or city, ARSSTC, or both
• ✅ Delivery address on every invoice
• ✅ Current rate, seasonal rate and cap for that jurisdiction
• ✅ Local sales tax shown as a separate line
• ✅ Exemption and resale certificates on file and up to date