AnchorageGCI sells to Liberty
GCI, founded in Anchorage in 1979, was acquired by Liberty Interactive in a deal announced in 2017 and completed in March 2018.
Wikipedia, 2018
Sell a business in Alaska
The road from today to the years after a sale runs through Alaska's rules. Here it is in the order you will meet them: where you stand, what the state takes, the rules of the sale, who buys, and what the money can do after.
ComplexityVery lowTax on the gainNone 2025Deal volumeVery low
Alaska is one of the quietest markets, where the strongest buyers are usually brought in from outside the state. The state takes none of the gain. Little else gets in the way of the sale.
Tax on the gain: No state income tax.
Today
Where you stand
Alaska takes nothing from the gain, and it wrote the first asset protection trust law in the country.
About 78,000 small firms employ over half of the workforce; Alaska Native corporations are steady buyers of local operating companies, and SBA loans run large.
Small business footprint
0
small businesses
0
employees
0.0%
of workforce
SBA Office of Advocacy, 2025
Alaska had 77,814 small businesses, 99.1 percent of firms, employing 139,534 people or 54.2 percent of the workforce.
Establishments, March to March
0
opened
0
closed
0
net new jobs
SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024
Between March 2023 and March 2024 small firms opened 2,065 establishments and closed 2,096, yet added a net 4,814 jobs.
SBA 7(a) lending
$0M
lent through 1,111 loans to Alaska businesses in fiscal 2024.
F. Blake Bank, 2024
The elements this touches
- TmTime The years before you want out. It feeds the exit-readiness score and never moves the price; every other decision is planned against it.
ListenThe Alaska briefing, read aloud
The deal team on what changes when you sell a business in Alaska.
Before the letter of intent
What Alaska takes
The tax on the gain, and what to settle before a buyer names a price
No personal income tax means no state tax on the gain; a C corporation pays up to 9.4 percent on its own income, and there is no statewide sales tax.
State tax on the gain
0%
No state income tax.
Tax Foundation, 2025
A founder on film
On what he learned about tax on the way to the sale.
Lewis Titus Wastewater purification and manufacturing · Wyoming
No state tax on gains
Alaska has no individual income tax, so a resident owes no state tax on the gain from selling a business.
Corporate rate tops 9.4 percent
Corporate income tax runs across ten brackets to a top rate of 9.4 percent, the fifth highest in the country.
No statewide sales tax
There is no statewide sales tax; local rates run from zero to 7 percent, and Anchorage and Fairbanks charge none.
The rate is the state's top rate on the gain for the year shown, the same figure as the indicator in the hero, so the two can never disagree.
The elements this touches
- TxTax Strategy The deal and entity structure, set before the letter of intent. FNDRS tracks whether it is in place. It never moves the price; it changes what you keep.
- ApAfter-Tax Proceeds What you keep at close. FNDRS records the pre-tax walk-away and the gap to your number. It never moves the price, and the tax on it is a question for your CPA.
Under contract and at closing
The rules of the sale
The rules a sale in Alaska runs under
No statute governs non-competes, so courts test reasonableness and may trim; a business broker needs a real estate licence; every business holds a $50 state licence.
01Courts enforce reasonable covenants
Alaska has no non-compete statute; courts enforce a covenant that is reasonable in time and area and may blue-pencil an overbroad one.
Birch Horton Bittner & Cherot, 2024
02Brokers need a licence
Alaska is one of 17 states that require a business broker to hold a real estate licence.
E. Howard Law
03A $50 state business licence
Nearly every business in the state needs a $50-a-year state business licence from the Department of Commerce.
Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, 2026
The elements this touches
- LcLegal & Compliance Contracts, licences, and filings in order and enforceable. The FNDRS valuation reads it, and the score moves the multiple.
- DrData Room The documents a buyer will ask for, ready before they ask. FNDRS tracks it in the deal-readiness report card; it decides how fast and how cleanly a deal closes.
One thing you would not guess
The state does not tax your gain; it pays you. Every eligible resident receives a Permanent Fund Dividend each year.
Alaska pays residents an annual Permanent Fund Dividend; eligibility needs a full calendar year of residency and intent to stay indefinitely.
When the process opens
Who buys
Who shows up for a business in Alaska
The largest homegrown deal was the sale of GCI to Liberty; today Alaska Native corporations buy local contractors, IT firms, and lenders outright.
FairbanksChugach buys two contractors
Chugach Alaska Corporation bought two Fairbanks mechanical contractors, HVAC LLC and Alaska Integrated Services, in October 2024.
Alaska Business Magazine, 2024
StatewideNative corporations buy in
Bristol Bay Native Corporation took majority ownership of lender Alaska Growth Capital in January 2025; CIRI bought IT firm OSC Edge in December 2024.
Alaska Business Magazine, 2025
The elements this touches
- SyStrategic Synergy What one buyer gains that another cannot. The buyer at the table prices it, which is why the sell-side process goes looking for them.
Day 0, and the years after
After the close
What Alaska lets the proceeds do
Alaska legalised self-settled asset protection trusts first, in 1997, allows trusts to run 1,000 years, and judges residency by intent and ties, not days counted.
CloseDay 0
Proceeds land. What the state keeps of them is settled above; what it lets them do from here is below.
Alaska trust termPerpetual
Alaska is listed with South Dakota as a state that allows a trust to run in perpetuity, with no state income tax on trust income.
First asset protection trusts
In 1997 Alaska became the first state to authorise domestic asset protection trusts, letting a settlor be a discretionary beneficiary shielded from creditors.
WealthResidency turns on intent
Residency turns on intent to remain indefinitely and customary ties to Alaska; presence alone is not enough, and ties kept in another state count against you.
WealthWhere FNDRS comes in
The post-exit wealth plan is the third act of the same engagement, and it starts in diligence, before the letter of intent, when a move or a trust can still change the answer.
FNDRSThe elements this touches
- EsEstate Architecture Trusts and ownership set up before the letter of intent. It changes what the family keeps, not what a buyer pays.
- ApAfter-Tax Proceeds What you keep at close. FNDRS records the pre-tax walk-away and the gap to your number. It never moves the price, and the tax on it is a question for your CPA.
People who walked it
Founders
Founders who worked with FNDRS, in their own words
From founders elsewhere
What founders say about working with FNDRS
No founder in Alaska is quoted yet. These are founders in other states, quoted word for word, each described by role and state.
1 of 3
“I definitely don't think we'd be in the same spot without you guys.”
No founder in Alaska is on film yet. These are founders in other states who worked with FNDRS.47 founders on film
Nearby
Other states in the West
| West | Tax on the gain | Complexity | Deal volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 2.5% 2025 | Medium | High |
| California | 13.3% 2025 | Medium | Very high |
| Colorado | 4.4% 2025 | Low | Medium |
| Hawaii | 7.25% 2025 | Medium | Low |
| Idaho | 5.3% 2025 | Medium | Low |
| Montana | 4.1% 2025 | Low | Very low |
| Nevada | None 2025 | Medium | Low |
| New Mexico | 5.9% 2025 | Medium | Low |
| Oregon | 9.9% 2025 | High | Medium |
| Utah | 4.5% 2025 | Medium | Medium |
| Washington | 9.9% 2025 | High | High |
| Wyoming | None 2025 | Low | Very low |
Your next step
The road starts with one step
Know where you stand in fifteen minutes, or talk the Alaska sale through with a dealmaker. Either way, no pitch and no obligation.
Selling in Alaska? Start with a conversation
No pitch and no obligation. If the honest answer is not yet, we will say so, and say what to work on.