An S corporation is not a separate entity type created by Alaska. It is an LLC or a corporation that has made a federal tax election to be treated as an S corporation. The state formation comes first and the tax election follows. This page covers the Alaska formation steps, the state fees, and how the S election fits in, so the order of work is clear before anything is filed.
What it costs to form the Alaska entity
The Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing charges $250 to file Articles of Organization for a domestic LLC, form 08-0484, and $250 to file Articles of Incorporation for a domestic business corporation, form 08-0400. Those figures come from the Division's published Corporation Forms and Fees schedule. Either route can lead to S corporation treatment, because the election attaches to the entity after it exists. The state filing fee is paid by you at cost, with zero markup, and you see the full total before you pay anything. Sams Business package fees sit on top of the state fee: Basic at $0, Standard at $199, and Premium at $299.
Filings can be made online or by mail. Online filings post immediately, and a myAlaska account is required to complete online payment for filings that have an online option. Hardcopy filings normally take 10 to 15 business days to process, and processing may take longer during the biennial reporting periods of April through June and October through December. The Division's instructions are clear on two points: do not email filings, payment, or confidential information, and do not duplicate a filing and payment by submitting both online and hardcopy versions of the same document. Hardcopy forms and payments are submitted by United States mail.
A name reservation is optional but commonly used. A new business name reservation costs $25 and lasts 120 days, and a renewal or transfer of a reservation also costs $25 each. Reserving the name first avoids preparing articles around a name that is already taken.
What Alaska requires
Every Alaska entity must appoint and maintain a registered agent in Alaska, without interruption. The Division's registered agent guidance states who may serve: an individual who is a full-time resident of Alaska, including an owner, employee, certified public accountant, attorney, friend, or family member, or a domestic or foreign corporation authorized to transact business in Alaska. An LLC, limited liability partnership, or limited partnership may not serve as a registered agent, and a business entity cannot serve as its own registered agent. Individuals who live out of state and non-registered entities are not eligible.
The registered office must be an address in Alaska where the agent can be reached, and it must be the agent's real location. A virtual address, a mail-holding or forwarding service, or any place where the agent is not physically present does not qualify. The agent must be physically present and reliably available at the Alaska addresses on record to receive service of process, notices, and demands, including in person. Individuals who are in Alaska only part of the year, or who are away from the address for extended periods, may not be able to meet the continuous availability requirement. The governing statutes are AS 10.50.055 for an LLC and AS 10.06.150 for a business corporation. Every Sams Business formation package includes registered agent service free for the first year, and virtual mail free for the first month.
This requirement applies whether the founders live in Alaska or elsewhere. A founder outside Alaska cannot use a home address in another state as the registered office, which is why the registered agent appointment matters so much for out-of-state and international founders.
The S corporation election step
Once the Alaska entity exists, the S corporation election is made with the Internal Revenue Service on Form 2553. The Division's published fee schedule contains no separate state S corporation election form, because the election is a federal tax filing rather than a second Alaska formation filing. Standard includes S-corp election filing, which covers preparing this election step alongside the Alaska formation.
Because the election follows formation, the practical order is: reserve the Alaska name, file the articles, and then make the election with the Internal Revenue Service. Founders sometimes ask whether the election can be made before the entity exists; it cannot, because the election belongs to an entity that has already been formed. Keeping the two steps in this order avoids a rejected election and a second round of paperwork.
After formation: the initial report, the business license, and the biennial report
Forming the entity is only the first filing. Three further obligations follow, and each has its own timing.
First, the Initial Report. The Division's fee schedule lists the Initial Report for both a domestic LLC and a domestic business corporation at no charge, with a note to file after creation to avoid non-compliance. The report confirms or updates the entity's basic information on record.
Second, the Alaska business license. Before engaging in business activity, a business must obtain a business license. A new business license application costs $50 per year, and a renewal costs $50 per year. Online filing gives immediate processing, while hardcopy filing normally takes 10 to 15 business days from March through September and may be delayed from October through February, which is the business licensing season. Business license and endorsement fees are non-refundable after issuance.
Third, the Biennial Report. Alaska does not run an annual report cycle for these entities. A domestic LLC or business corporation files a Biennial Report every two years at $100. Reports are due by January 2, and reports marked after February 1 incur late fee penalties. The cycle follows the parity of the formation year: an entity first filed in an even-numbered year reports in January of every even-numbered year, and an entity first filed in an odd-numbered year reports in January of every odd-numbered year. The reporting period opens three months before the due date for online or hardcopy filing. The registered agent cannot be changed on the Biennial Report; a Statement of Change form is used for that instead. Standard includes compliance alerts, which help keep the two-year cycle from slipping.
Two other state charges are useful for planning. A Certificate of Compliance, which serves as a certificate of good standing, costs $10 and can be filed online. If the entity changes later, articles of amendment cost $25 for both an LLC and a business corporation. Dissolution costs $25 for an LLC, while a business corporation dissolves in two parts at $10 and $15. Dissolution assistance is a separate service with a custom quote, and it is never part of a formation package.
Sams Business pricing for an Alaska S corporation
Basic ($0 plus the state fee) covers the filing and state registration, with registered agent service free for the first year and virtual mail free for the first month. Standard ($199 plus the state fee) adds EIN assistance, an operating agreement or bylaws, S-corp election filing, and compliance alerts. Premium ($299 plus the state fee) adds expedited filing where the state offers it, ready-to-use business contracts, a domain name and business email, and a US business phone number free for the first year.
Changing the entity later is also straightforward: amendments cost $25 under the fee schedule. Start from the contact page to begin an Alaska S corporation filing.
Related Alaska pages
Sams Business is an independent private service and is not affiliated with any government agency, including the Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing.
Not legal or tax advice.