Alaska Short-Term Rental Laws: State Rules, Local Registration and Lodging Taxes

If you rent a home, cabin or spare room to visitors through Airbnb, VRBO or a similar platform in Alaska, start with this fact: there is no statewide short-term rental law. Alaska does not register hosts, cap nights or set a state rental tax. The rules that govern your listing come from the city or borough where the property sits, and they vary widely. Anchorage and Juneau have the most developed local rules, so they get the most attention here.

If you searched for alaska short term rental laws, alaska short term rental tax or alaska airbnb laws, the working answer is to check your address first and the state rules second. This guide covers the statewide requirements every host should know, the registration rules in Anchorage and Juneau, how lodging taxes work, and the steps to take before your first booking.

Informational content, not legal or tax advice. This guide summarizes rules as of October 15, 2026. Ordinances, fees and enforcement change, so confirm current requirements with the city or borough, the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED) and the Alaska Department of Revenue. For decisions about your property, business entity or taxes, consult a qualified Alaska attorney or CPA.

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Find Your Governing Jurisdiction First

Alaska has no Secretary of State and no counties. Local government is organized into cities, boroughs and the Unorganized Borough instead. That split matters because your local registration, local tax and any local business license come from the place where the property is physically located, not from the state.

Use the physical address of the property, not a mailing address or a PO box. A mailing address can carry a different community name than the property itself, and the rule follows the location. If you are unsure which city or borough governs a parcel, ask the local government before you list. If the parcel is in the Unorganized Borough or outside any city, confirm with DCCED which rules, if any, apply.

What Alaska Requires of Every Host

The statewide business license

Before engaging in business activity in Alaska, you must obtain a state business license under AS 43.70 from the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. The fee is $50 for one year or $100 for two years (Form 08-4181 for a new application, Form 08-4617 to renew). Hosts who run a rental as a business need this license. If you rent a property only occasionally, ask the Division whether your activity counts as a business before you assume you are exempt.

This license is separate from forming an entity. If you hold the property in an LLC or corporation, that is a filing with the Corporations Section of the same Division, and it does not replace the business license. An LLC or corporation files a biennial report every two years, not an annual report. The biennial report is due January 2 every two years and carries a $100 fee, and late penalties apply after February 1. A new LLC or corporation also files a no-fee Initial Report within 6 months of formation.

State income and sales tax

Alaska has no state personal income tax and no state sales tax. An LLC taxed as a partnership or a sole proprietorship owes no Alaska income tax on its earnings, including rental income. An LLC that elects corporate taxation files the Alaska corporate net income tax, which is graduated from 0% to 9.4%. Federal income tax still applies to your rental earnings. The taxes your guests pay locally are covered in the sections below.

Anchorage: Free Registration Under AMC 10.90

Anchorage requires short-term rental hosts to register with the Municipality under Anchorage Municipal Code (AMC) 10.90, added by Assembly Ordinance AO 2025-115(S-2). Registration is free, and the online portal opened May 1, 2026. Here is what matters most:

Term: Registration runs for one year, from May 1 to April 30.
Listing number: Since July 31, 2026, your registration number must appear on every listing.
Grace period: The Assembly asked enforcement staff to give hosts 30 days to register before fines, through September 30, 2026 (AR 2026-213). That window has closed as of this guide's date, so treat registration as due now and confirm current enforcement with the Municipality.

Find the registration portal through the Municipality of Anchorage website and check the current terms before you submit.

Juneau: Annual Registration Plus a CBJ Sales Tax Account

The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) requires annual short-term rental registration. Registration is free, but it ties into two other requirements:

Register each year and include your state business license number on the application.
Open a separate CBJ sales tax account for the rental, and show the registration number on each listing.

Ordinance 2025-23(b)am also requires platforms such as Airbnb to collect CBJ taxes on bookings from July 1, 2025. Before you rely on platform collection, confirm with the CBJ which obligations stay with you, including registration and reporting.

Sources do not agree on the daily penalty for operating an unregistered Juneau listing, so this guide does not state a figure. Ask the Juneau Sales Tax Office for the current amount before you decide how to proceed.

Lodging Taxes: Who Charges What

Alaska's lodging taxes are set locally. Alaska has no statewide sales tax, but about 110 of Alaska's 162 municipalities levy some local sales tax, typically at 2% to 5%. Whether a particular rental owes a local tax depends on its location, so the table below covers only the two places with verified rules. For every other city or borough, confirm the rate and reporting duties with that government.

Place	Lodging tax	Cleaning fees	Registration
Anchorage	12% room tax (AMC 12.20)	Confirm with the Municipality	Free, one-year term, May 1 to April 30
Juneau	14% total: 5% sales tax plus 9% hotel bed tax	Taxed at 5%	Free, annual, with state license number and CBJ sales tax account

Because the two places treat lodging differently, do not apply one city's numbers to another. A host with properties in both places needs two separate tax setups.

Local Business Licenses Differ by City

Some cities require their own general business license in addition to the state license. Anchorage, Ketchikan and Homer do not. Check your city before you list. If it requires a general business license, that license is a separate obligation from the state license and from any registration.

Not needing a city business license in Anchorage, Ketchikan or Homer does not exempt a rental from anything else. The state license, the Anchorage registration and the Anchorage room tax still apply where they apply.

Steps to Take Before Your First Booking

Confirm the city or borough that governs the property's physical location.
Decide whether the rental is a business activity. If it is, obtain the state business license under AS 43.70 ($50 for one year or $100 for two).
In Anchorage, register under AMC 10.90 and add the registration number to every listing. In Juneau, register each year with your state license number, open a CBJ sales tax account, and add the registration number to every listing.
Find the lodging or bed tax rate for your place and set up collection, or confirm what your platform collects for you.
Check whether your city requires a general business license.
If you hold the property in an LLC or corporation, file with the Corporations Section and calendar the biennial report due January 2 every two years.
Keep records of bookings, nights, taxes collected and taxes paid, and save every registration confirmation.

Official Resources

DCCED Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing: business licenses, entity filings and forms
Alaska business entity search: confirm whether an entity name is on record
Alaska Department of Revenue, Tax Division: state tax questions
Alaska Small Business Development Center: help with setup questions
Anchorage and Juneau registration pages: reach them through the Municipality of Anchorage and City and Borough of Juneau websites. Contact the Juneau Sales Tax Office for the current penalty amount.

When to Get Professional Help

A single property in Anchorage with a simple owner structure is manageable with careful reading. Get professional advice if you own several properties, hold them in an entity, plan to elect corporate tax treatment, operate in more than one jurisdiction, or receive an enforcement notice. An Alaska attorney can review local ordinance language and advise on your registration obligations. A CPA can confirm how rental income is reported on your federal return and whether an entity election makes sense for your situation.