Alaska Taxes

Alaska has no statewide sales-tax holiday because it has no state sales tax at all: the state revenue code (AS Title 43) levies none, and neither it nor the municipal tax chapter (AS Title 29) sets any tax-free period. Sales taxes in Alaska are local — boroughs and cities may levy them on sales, rents and services and may grant exemptions by ordinance (AS 29.45.650, 29.45.700) — so any tax-free day or seasonal exemption, if one exists, is set by the local government that levies the tax. Check with the borough or city where you are shopping.

In Alaska, property tax on homes and most other property is local. A unified municipality may levy a property tax; a borough may levy an areawide tax, a nonareawide tax outside cities, or a service-area tax; home-rule and first-class cities may levy one subject to statutory limits, and second-class cities under their own rules (AS 29.45.010). Whether your community taxes property, and at what rate, varies — and the state's annual Alaska Taxable report lists each municipality's assessments and rates. The state itself levies an annual 20-mill (2%) tax only on oil and gas exploration, production and pipeline transportation property (AS 43.56.010(a)); a municipality may tax that property at its own rate, with the municipal tax credited against the state tax.

Alaska has no state sales tax, so the state does not tax groceries. Boroughs and cities that levy a local sales tax decide for themselves whether food is taxed: a borough sales tax may apply to any or all sales, rents and services, and exemptions may be granted by local ordinance (AS 29.45.650(a)), and cities levy theirs in the same manner (AS 29.45.700). Because each community sets its own exemptions, check the local rate and exemptions for the community where you shop.