By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Oct 4, 2026
Alaska is not an IFTA member jurisdiction, so no Alaska agency issues IFTA licenses or decals and there is no Alaska quarterly IFTA return. Alaska taxes highway fuel at the wholesale level instead: the Department of Revenue Tax Division collects a per-gallon highway fuel tax plus a refined fuel surcharge, mostly from licensed qualified dealers, who file monthly returns. Both rates are listed below. A carrier based in Alaska that runs into IFTA jurisdictions can apply for an IFTA license to any member jurisdiction it operates in, which may accept or reject the application (IFTA Articles R325), or can pay fuel tax trip by trip in those jurisdictions (R310).
Alaska IFTA administration
- Agency
- None for IFTA. Alaska's motor fuel tax is administered by the Alaska Department of Revenue, Tax Division (dor.tax.motorfuel@alaska.gov).
- License fee
- Not applicable: Alaska issues no IFTA license. Alaska's motor fuel tax licenses wholesalers and importers as qualified dealers (AS 43.40.094), not motor carriers.
- Application
- An applicant not based in a member jurisdiction may apply for IFTA licensing to any member jurisdiction where it operates. That jurisdiction may accept or reject the application, and a licensee admitted this way must make its records available for audit in the licensing jurisdiction or pay auditors' reasonable travel costs. If Alaska ever joins IFTA, the carrier must apply to Alaska right away and the Alaska license takes effect the next license year (Articles of Agreement R325).
- Application: alternative
- In place of an IFTA license, a carrier may satisfy fuel use tax trip by trip (R310), buying the trip permit each member jurisdiction sells.
- Application: acceptance by jurisdiction
- Each member jurisdiction decides for itself whether to accept an Alaska-based carrier's application under R325. Which jurisdictions currently do was not confirmed for this page, so ask the IFTA office of the jurisdiction you plan to apply to before you file.
- Filing frequency
- No Alaska fuel tax return for carriers. Alaska motor fuel tax returns are monthly, filed electronically through Revenue Online by qualified dealers (and by users who consume untaxed fuel), due the last day of the month after the month of sale or taxable use. An Alaska-based carrier licensed elsewhere under R325 files that jurisdiction's IFTA return, due the last day of the month after each reporting period (R960.100).
- Base jurisdiction: summary
- IFTA defines a base jurisdiction as a member jurisdiction where the qualified motor vehicles are based for registration and where operational records are kept or can be made available (R212). Alaska cannot be one because it is not a member. Any person based in a member jurisdiction who runs qualified vehicles in two or more member jurisdictions must license under the agreement (R305); Alaska-based carriers fall outside that rule and instead use R325 or trip permits.
Alaska state fuel tax
AS 43.40.010 levies a per-gallon tax on motor fuel sold or transferred in the state and on motor fuel consumed by a user, on top of the refined fuel surcharge. The Tax Division lists a highway rate and a surcharge rate (the surcharge in effect since July 1, 2015). Both are collected primarily from wholesalers and distributors licensed as qualified dealers, who collect the tax at the time of sale (AS 43.40.013).
Licensing rules, records, and penalties
Which vehicles the licence covers, how long it runs, what Alaska can ask you to post or produce, and what a late or wrong return costs. Each one is sourced.
- Application: Summary
- An applicant not based in a member jurisdiction may apply for IFTA licensing to any member jurisdiction where it operates. That jurisdiction may accept or reject the application, and a licensee admitted this way must make its records available for audit in the licensing jurisdiction or pay auditors' reasonable travel costs. If Alaska ever joins IFTA, the carrier must apply to Alaska right away and the Alaska license takes effect the next license year (Articles of Agreement R325).
No Alaska license to get
Alaska does not appear in IFTA's member directory. No Alaska agency issues IFTA licenses or decals, and there is no Alaska fuel-use return for carriers. IFTA's base jurisdiction rules assume a member state, so Alaska cannot be one.
How Alaska taxes fuel
The Department of Revenue Tax Division levies motor fuel tax plus a refined fuel surcharge per gallon. Licensed qualified dealers collect it when they sell fuel and file monthly returns. A business that brings in fuel bought outside the state for its own use, or receives untaxed fuel, files as a user.
Running outside Alaska
An Alaska-based carrier that runs qualified vehicles into IFTA jurisdictions has two routes. It can apply for an IFTA license to any member jurisdiction where it operates, which may accept or reject it and can require records to be available for audit there. Or it can buy each member jurisdiction's trip permit, trip by trip. If Alaska ever joins, the carrier must move its license to Alaska.
Which jurisdictions accept Alaska carriers is up to each one and is not recorded here.
The tax rates live in the quarterly matrix
IFTA rates change every quarter, so we keep them in one refreshed store instead of copying them onto every state page. The current quarter is 4Q 2026, effective Oct 1, 2026 through Dec 31, 2026, provisional until Dec 4, 2026. Use the IFTA rates by state table for the full matrix, or the IFTA calculator to run your miles and gallons against the current rates.
What pairs with IFTA
IFTA and IRP travel together: the same interstate operation that needs a fuel tax license usually needs apportioned plates through Alaska IRP. If you are still setting up, the full order of operations is in start a trucking company in Alaska.