Active-duty pay
No State Income Tax
No state income tax.
State Guide · AK
Alaska — Military Tax Treatment
Alaska is as clean as it gets: no state income tax of any kind. No exemption worksheets, no phase-in rules, no gotchas for military pay.
Tax treatment at a glance
Guard & Reserve drill pay
No State Income Tax
No state income tax. Guard and Reserve drill pay not taxed.
Military retirement pay
No State Income Tax
No state income tax — military retirement effectively tax-free.
VA disability compensation
Always tax-free
Federally tax-free under 38 USC § 5301. No state taxes VA disability compensation as income — Alaska included.
Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP)
Follows retirement
No state income tax — SBP annuities not taxed in Alaska.
Federal rules that override state law
SCRA — Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
Active-duty servicemembers pay state income tax only to their state of legal domicile — not the state where they are stationed. If you are from Texas and stationed in Alaska, Alaska cannot tax your military pay. This applies during all active duty periods and during Guard/Reserve mobilizations on federal (Title 10) orders.
MSRRA — Military Spouses Residency Relief Act
Military spouses can maintain their home-state domicile even when living in a different state due to their servicemember's orders. A spouse who is a Texas resident following their servicemember to Alaska can keep Texas as their tax domicile and avoid Alaska state income tax on their wages.
Guard & Reserve — the SCRA gap
SCRA pay protections apply during federal (Title 10) activation orders. During routine drill weekends and state-only activations, Guard and Reserve members are state residents serving in their home state — SCRA does not protect their drill pay from state income tax. Whether Alaska exempts that pay is the state-specific question answered above.
Filing watch-outs
- 01No state income tax return required. Check for borough-level taxes in some Alaskan municipalities — rare but possible.
Veteran-specific tax benefits
Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) for residents; veteran property tax exemptions available.
Official authority
https://tax.alaska.gov/ ↗State tax law changes annually. Verify current rules with the Alaska Department of Revenue before making any tax decision.
Alaska military tax — common questions
Does Alaska tax military retirement pay in 2026?
Alaska does not tax military retirement pay. No state income tax — military retirement effectively tax-free.
Does Alaska tax active-duty military pay?
Alaska does not tax active-duty military pay for state residents. No state income tax. Under the SCRA, Alaska can only tax the military pay of service members who are legally domiciled in Alaska — not those merely stationed there.
Does Alaska tax National Guard and Reserve drill pay?
Alaska does not tax Guard and Reserve drill pay. No state income tax. Guard and Reserve drill pay not taxed.
Is VA disability compensation taxed in Alaska?
No. VA disability compensation is federally tax-free under 38 U.S.C. § 5301, and no state — including Alaska — taxes it as income.
If I'm stationed in Alaska but claim another state, can Alaska tax my military pay?
No. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), active-duty pay is taxable only by your state of legal domicile, not the state where you are stationed. If your domicile is elsewhere, Alaska cannot tax your active-duty military pay. Military spouses get the same protection under the MSRRA.
Related tools
Other state guides