Alaska — Personal Income Tax

Alaska does not impose a personal income tax on individuals. The state originally enacted a personal income tax in 1949, but repealed it in 1980 following the oil boom and resulting surge in state revenue from oil production. Alaska Statutes Title 43 (Revenue and Taxation) contains the Alaska Net Income Tax Act at Chapter 20, but that chapter imposes tax only on corporations, not on resident, nonresident, or part-year resident individuals.

Source: Alaska Legislature, History of Alaska Individual Income Tax

Alaska repealed its individual income tax in 1980. The state had originally enacted a personal income tax in 1949, but repealed it following the oil boom and resulting surge in state revenue from oil production. The repeal removed the tax previously imposed under AS 43.20.010 and related provisions of the Alaska Net Income Tax Act on individuals, while retaining the corporate income tax under AS 43.20.011. As a result, entities whose income and losses are reported on individual income tax returns of their members or partners are not subject to tax in Alaska because the individual income tax no longer exists.

Source: Alaska Legislative Research Services, Memorandum on Business Entities and Alaska Taxation

Alaska residents, part-year residents, and nonresidents are not required to file a state individual income tax return because Alaska does not impose a personal income tax. Federal income tax filing requirements continue to apply. Alaska municipalities and boroughs are also prohibited from levying a personal income tax under AS 43.20.290, enacted in 1961.

Source: Alaska Legislature, History of Alaska Individual Income Tax

Unable to confirm as of 2026-05-27.

Unable to confirm as of 2026-05-28.

Establishing Alaska residency does not by itself terminate individual income tax obligations to the state you moved from. Because Alaska imposes no personal income tax, practitioners and individuals often assume that physically relocating to Alaska and registering to vote, obtaining an Alaska driver's license, or qualifying for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend automatically ends their prior state's tax claim. That assumption is incorrect. Each state with an income tax applies its own residency and domicile tests, and many states maintain that an individual remains a resident (and therefore taxable on worldwide income) until the individual both establishes domicile in the new state and severs the prior state's domicile by abandoning the intent to return.

California's domicile and residency framework

California taxes an individual as a resident under either of two independent tests: (a) the individual is in California for other than a temporary or transitory purpose, regardless of domicile; or (b) the individual is domiciled in California and any absence is temporary or transitory. Domicile is the place where an individual has a permanent home and intends to return whenever absent. An individual claiming to have changed domicile from California to Alaska must show both physical presence in Alaska and intent to remain in Alaska indefinitely. The California Franchise Tax Board examines factors including location of spouse and children, location of principal residence, voter registration, driver's license, professional licenses, bank accounts, real property, and social ties.

New York's domicile and statutory residency tests

New York applies two independent residency tests under N.Y. Tax Law § 605. An individual is a New York resident if (1) domiciled in New York, or (2) not domiciled in New York but maintaining a permanent place of abode in New York for substantially all of the taxable year and spending more than 183 days in New York. A New York domicile does not change "until you can demonstrate that you have abandoned your New York domicile and established a new domicile outside New York State." Residents are taxed on worldwide income.

Massachusetts domicile and statutory residency

Massachusetts defines a resident as (1) an individual domiciled in Massachusetts, or (2) an individual not domiciled in Massachusetts who maintains a permanent place of abode in Massachusetts and spends more than 183 days in the state during the taxable year. Massachusetts guidance provides that to acquire a new domicile outside Massachusetts, an individual must have physical presence in the new location, an intent to make that location the individual's home either indefinitely or permanently, and an intent not to return to reside in Massachusetts. Residents are taxed on worldwide income; nonresidents are taxed only on income derived from or connected to sources in Massachusetts.

New Jersey domicile and the 30-day safe harbor

New Jersey treats as a resident any person domiciled in New Jersey, except a person who (1) maintains no permanent place of abode in New Jersey, (2) maintains a permanent place of abode outside New Jersey, and (3) spends 30 days or fewer in New Jersey during the taxable year. In addition, any person who maintains a permanent place of abode in New Jersey and spends more than 183 days in the state is taxed as a resident, whether or not domiciled in New Jersey. New Jersey residents are taxed on worldwide income; nonresidents are taxed only on income from New Jersey sources. An individual's domicile "continues until you establish a new permanent home elsewhere."

Common steps taken by individuals moving to Alaska

Individuals moving to Alaska from a state with income tax commonly take the following steps to support a claim of domicile change, though each state evaluates domicile on all facts and circumstances:

• Sever ties in the prior state—close or transfer bank accounts, surrender the prior state's driver's license, update professional licenses to Alaska addresses, sell or lease the prior-state home (retaining it as a vacation property may indicate continued domicile), update estate-planning documents to reflect Alaska domicile, and file a final resident return in the source state marking the move date.
• Establish Alaska ties—obtain an Alaska driver's license, register to vote in Alaska, register vehicles in Alaska, move household goods and family to Alaska, open Alaska bank accounts, obtain Alaska professional licenses if applicable, and apply for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (which requires one full calendar year of Alaska residency and intent to remain indefinitely).
• Track time if spending significant periods outside Alaska—a taxpayer who spends more than half the year outside Alaska (whether in the prior state or elsewhere) may face a residency challenge from the prior state or a claim that Alaska residency was not actually established.
• Be prepared for residency audits—California, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey routinely audit high-income individuals who claim to have moved to no-income-tax states. The burden of proof is on the taxpayer to demonstrate both the new domicile and the abandonment of the old.

Multi-state filings in the move year

In the calendar year of the move, an individual will typically file (1) a part-year resident return in the prior state, reporting worldwide income earned while a resident and source income earned while a nonresident, and (2) no Alaska return, because Alaska has no personal income tax. If the prior state challenges residency, the individual may be required to file a full-year resident return in that state and assert the change-of-domicile defense, often requiring professional representation.

Source: FTB Publication 1031 (2024), Guidelines for Determining Resident Status Source: NY Dept. of Taxation, Frequently Asked Questions about Filing Requirements, Residency, and Telecommuting Source: NY Dept. of Taxation, Income Tax Definitions Source: Mass.gov, Personal Income Tax for Nonresidents Source: NJ Division of Taxation, Income Tax - Nonresidents Source: NJ Division of Taxation, Part-Year Residents and Nonresidents Understanding Income Tax (GIT-6)

Alaska does not impose a state income tax on estates or trusts. The state repealed its income tax on fiduciaries (estates and trusts) in 1980, the same legislation that eliminated the personal income tax on individuals. Prior to 1980, Alaska imposed tax on fiduciaries under AS 43.20.033 ("Taxable income of fiduciaries, nonresidents, and part-year residents") and AS 43.20.035 (same subject), but both provisions were repealed by Section 10, Chapter 1, Special Session of the Alaska Legislature, 1980, effective January 1, 1980. Those sections have not been reenacted.

Current law

The Alaska Net Income Tax Act at AS 43.20 continues to impose tax on corporations under AS 43.20.011, but the operative tax-imposition sections that applied to trusts and estates were repealed in 1980. Because the fiduciary-income-tax sections were repealed and not replaced, Alaska law imposes no state income tax on trust or estate income.

Federal filing requirements remain

Trusts and estates remain subject to federal income tax. A trust or estate must file federal Form 1041 if it has taxable income or gross income of $600 or more during the tax year, regardless of Alaska's treatment. Alaska law does not require a separate state fiduciary return because Alaska imposes no tax on fiduciaries.

Alaska as a trust situs

Because Alaska imposes no income tax on trusts, it is frequently chosen as a trust situs for estate-planning purposes. Alaska also enacted favorable trust statutes in 1997 and later years, including authorization for self-settled spendthrift trusts (domestic asset protection trusts), perpetual trusts, and community property trusts. The absence of state income tax on accumulated trust income is a key feature for long-term trust planning.

Liability in other states

A trust with an Alaska trustee or Alaska situs may still owe income tax to another state if that state's law classifies the trust as a resident or sources income to the state. The relevant Alaska statutes address only Alaska's own tax; they do not govern or limit another state's authority to tax a trust based on grantor domicile, beneficiary residence, trustee location, place of administration, or source income. States apply varying criteria to determine fiduciary income tax nexus, and practitioners should evaluate each relevant state's rules independently.

Source: Alaska Legislature, History of Alaska Individual Income Tax (session 30, doc. 17151)