On this page we are describing the sales taxes in the State of Alaska, we aim to educate you on the differences that occur throughout the state so you get a better understanding of it in regards to whether you may have:
- Have taken a new job in the are
- Applied for a new school
- Opened a new bank account in the state of Alaska
- People who may be unable to find their Social Security Card or have lost it.
What is the lowest and highest sales tax in Alaska?
In the map of Alaska that is pictured below there are a total of 29 countries that are within the state. You can go directly to the page and see which area has the highest and lowest sales tax in your county of choice.
- the average sales tax for the entirety of Alaska is 1.624%,
- the highest is within the Kenai Peninsula Borough that consists of Homer and this equates to 7.85% sales tax,
- the lowest sales tax is in the Anchorage Borough, Bristol Bay Borough, Denali Borough, Fairbanks North Star, Skagway Borough, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area which includes cities like Anchorage, Eagle River, Jber, Chugiak, Girdwood, Indian, King Salmon, Naknek, South Naknek, Healy, Anderson, Cantwell, Denali National Park, Fairbanks, North Pole, Fort Wainwright, Eielson Afb, Ester, Salcha, Skagway, Delta Junction, Tok, Fort Greely, Eagle, Chicken, Northway, Tanacross and the sales tax in these areas total to 0%
This is a brief overview, and we suggest that you go directly to the page if you wish to get a clearer image of the different ranges of sale tax in a particular county. Please note that the ones that have an asterisk means they are below the usual county level of sales tax.
How to calculate your own sales tax in the state of Alaska.
So, what does this mean for you, if you are looking into how much sales tax you are going to charged dependant on what sort of county you are residing or working out of. You can go ahead and use a sales tax calculator which will give you a section that is exampled below.
You do need to know the purchase ZIP code and purchase amount in order to get an accurate figure. For an example we will use the amount of $100 and see what the ranges could be from the highest area to the lowest.
In Homer, AK with the highest sales tax of 7.85% would mean that your $100 purchase would incur a $7.85 sales tax, taking the total amount to $107.85.
Whereas in Juneau, AK the sales tax is only 5% and a $100 purchase would equate to $5 tax, taking the total to $105.
The sales tax calculator makes it as easy as it can be to find out what sort of sales tax you will be charged by simply adding the amount and the ZIP code. Though there might be some purchases that are exempt from sales taxes or have some special leniency which do need to be taken into consideration.
| City | Sales Tax Rate | Zip-code | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | 0.00% | 99501, 99502, 99503, 99504, 99507, 99508, 99509, 99510, 99511, 99513, 99514, 99515, 99516, 99517, 99518, 99519, 99520, 99521, 99522, 99523, 99524, 99529, 99530, 99599 | 201879 |
| Fairbanks | 0.00% | 99708, 99709, 99712, 99775 | 31433 |
| Wasilla | 0.00% | 99623, 99654 | 27809 |
| Eagle River | 0.00% | 99577 | 23726 |
| Palmer | 0.00% | 99645 | 21020 |
| Juneau | 5.00% | 99801 | 18213 |
| North Pole | 0.00% | 99705 | 16064 |
| Soldotna | 3.00% | 99669 | 12970 |
| Kodiak | 7.00% | 99615, 99619 | 11442 |
| Kenai | 6.00% | 99611 | 11185 |
| Jber | 0.00% | 99505, 99506 | 10937 |
| Ketchikan | 6.50% | 99901 | 10392 |
Why do I need to collect sales tax in Alaska?
You will need to collect sales tax if you have any sort of nexus there, and what this means is that if you have assets that are physical or economic then you need to do this.
Physical meaning having a tangible activity or some sort of presence in any of the states of Alaska, economic nexus is simply passing the states’ economic threshold for total revenue, or the maximum number of transactions that can occur in the period of time within the state.
Two easy ways to see if you have either a physical or economic nexus in any of the counties is the following:
Physical:
- Tangible personal property
- Business assets or property
- Own, renting properties
- Made more than $500,000 in a service or content delivery in the state
Economic:
- Made more than $100,000 in sales annually
- More than 200 transactions in the last calendar year
How do I get a sales tax permit?
The main way to go about this is to register online at the Alaska Business Gateway. Follow the steps that are presented to you and ensure that you have the following to hand to use as information:
- Business identification information
- Business entity
- Location/s that you will be conducting this from
- Date you will start collecting Alaska sales tax from a business/property
- NAICS Code (North American Industry Classification System.)
What is the best way to file sales taxes?
Before you think of doing anything else there are three things that we recommend that you do in order to make this process as easy and smooth as possible.
First of all, find out how much tax you owe (remember the sales tax calculator we mentioned before) so that you know how much you need to pay the state at the end. Second is get onto the Alaska Department Of Taxation ready to submit them, and third have the money ready so you can make the payment straight away.
There are two main options as well to filing and paying your Alaska sales tax, these are:
- Filing online. This is where merchants are required to file all of their sales taxes through the department of taxation in the state of Alaska, you can also pay your taxes on this platform, so it is one to keep close to you for future reference.
- Filing by mail. Simply fill out the form UST-1, but this is not the recommended way of filing your taxes due to the possibilities of them getting lost in the post and then it could mean that you are subject to late fees if they are not filed within the allotted time.
We hope this document was able to allow you to feel more confident when it comes to sales tax in the state of Alaska depending on where you operate out of.