How to Start an LLC in Alaska

Here is something most generic guides get wrong: Alaska has no Secretary of State. LLC filings in Alaska go to the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, specifically its Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. Every document your company files, from formation through the biennial report, lands at that Division. The official filing fee for a new Alaska LLC is $250.

The Document: Articles of Organization, Form 08-484

Alaska's LLC statute (AS 10.50.070 and AS 10.50.075) says that one or more persons may organize a limited liability company by signing articles of organization and delivering them to the department for filing. In practice that means completing Articles of Organization, Form 08-484, and submitting it either online through the Division's Corporations portal or as a PDF filing. The fee is $250 either way. The current forms list is posted on the Division's forms and fees page.

Steps to Form an Alaska LLC

1. Settle on a compliant name. The name must contain "Limited Liability Company," "LLC," or "L.L.C." and be distinguishable from every entity already on record with the Division. Run it through the state's entity search before you commit to logos or domains.
2. Appoint a registered agent. Under AS 10.50.055, the agent must be either an individual Alaska resident whose business office is the same as the registered office, or a corporation (domestic or foreign) authorized to do business in Alaska. An LLC cannot serve as a registered agent in Alaska, and your company cannot name itself. State forms ask for both an Alaska physical address and an Alaska mailing address. Details on our registered agent page.
3. File Articles of Organization, Form 08-484. Submit online or by PDF to the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing with the $250 fee. The form covers your LLC name, registered agent and office, management structure, and organizer information.
4. File the free initial report. Alaska requires a one-time initial report within 6 months of formation. It carries no fee. It is separate from the recurring biennial report, so do not confuse the two.
5. Adopt an operating agreement. Alaska does not make you file one, but banks ask for it, courts rely on it in disputes, and without one the default rules of AS 10.50 govern your company whether they suit you or not.
6. Get an EIN from the IRS. Free at IRS.gov, usually issued instantly. Skip any service that charges for this.
7. Calendar the biennial report. Alaska LLCs report every two years, not annually. The report is due January 2 in years matching the even or odd parity of the year you first registered, and the filing window opens October 2 of the preceding year. Full breakdown on our ongoing requirements page.

What Forming an LLC Buys You

A limited liability company keeps your personal assets legally separate from the business. If the company is sued or takes on debt it cannot pay, your house and personal accounts are generally out of reach, provided you keep company finances genuinely separate from your own. Profits pass through to your personal return by default, so there is no corporate-level federal income tax unless you elect it.

Doing It Yourself vs. Having Us File

Filing directly with the Division works fine if you are comfortable with the forms. If you would rather hand it off, our formation service is $199 plus the $250 state fee. That $199 includes your first year of registered agent service, which Alaska law requires you to maintain anyway; after the first year the agent service renews at $99 per year.

Form Your Alaska LLC