Alaska Closing Costs for Sellers in 2026: Transfer Tax, Fees and Real Numbers

Alaska has no state transfer tax under AS 43.98.035, and none is collected when a deed is recorded. The Alaska Recorder’s Office charges $20 for the first page, $5 for each additional page and a $2 indexing fee for names over six. Commission, payoff and prorations are set by your contract.

What an Alaska seller pays at closing

Alaska takes a line off the settlement statement that many sellers expect: the state transfer tax. Under AS 43.98.035, Alaska has no transfer tax, and none is collected when a document is recorded. The same statute restricts boroughs and cities from levying a tax on the transfer of real property, with limited exceptions for older local rules. If you are used to budgeting a percentage of the sale price for transfer tax, you can set that to zero here.

That does not make closing free. Recording fees, title and escrow charges, commission and the mortgage payoff all still apply. The point is that the biggest tax-driven surprise seen in other states is absent.

Recording fees

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Recorder’s Office publishes a fee schedule. The figures below come straight from it:

Item	Fee
First page	$20.00
Each additional page	$5.00
Indexing, each name or claim name over six	$2.00

The fee schedule page lists recording and indexing charges only. It does not list a transfer or excise tax line, which matches the statute.

Who pays

The sources checked for this post do not state a statewide custom for who pays recording, title or escrow fees. That means it is a contract term. Your purchase agreement should allocate each cost, and your title company or closing attorney can tell you what is customary locally. In a state with spread-out markets, local practice can differ more than a statewide rule would suggest.

A worked example on a hypothetical $300,000 sale

Take a hypothetical $300,000 sale and a deed that runs four pages.

State transfer tax: $0, because there is none.
Recording: $20.00 for page one plus 3 additional pages at $5.00, which is $35.00.
Indexing: $0 if six or fewer names are indexed.

Line	Amount
State transfer tax	$0
Recording, 4-page deed	$35
Indexing, 6 names or fewer	$0
Total government fees from this schedule	$35

The $35 is the only government charge from the schedule above. Compare that with states where transfer tax is a percentage of price, and it is easy to see why the transfer line is the first item to check when you price a deal across state lines.

The other seller costs

The remaining costs are set by the market and your contract, not by a state rate:

Agent commission. Negotiable.
Mortgage payoff. Your remaining balance plus interest through the payoff date.
Prorated property taxes. Settled at closing as of the closing date, under your contract. Try the tax proration calculator.
Title and escrow fees. These vary by company, and the sources used here do not give a statewide rate schedule, so ask for a written estimate. Ask the title company how its premium is set.

Why investors care

For a flipper, closing costs hit twice: once when you buy and again when you sell. In Alaska, the transfer tax is not part of that double hit, which leaves recording fees, title and escrow charges and any local items as the costs to model. On a hypothetical flip, two four-page deeds mean $70 in recording fees from the schedule above, before title and escrow.

The structure matters too. An assignment moves the contract to your end buyer, so the seller deeds to that buyer in one closing. A double close means two closings and two sets of costs, so the recording, title and escrow charges are paid twice. Even with no transfer tax, that second set of costs can reduce your spread, particularly on a low-priced property where a flat fee is a bigger share of the deal.

For your maximum allowable offer, add the buy-side and sell-side closing costs, holding costs and rehab to your target profit and subtract the total from your projected resale price. Set the transfer tax line to zero, and keep the recording and title lines in. Ask your closing attorney whether any borough or city requirement applies to the property in question.

Check your numbers

Confirm exact figures with your title company or closing attorney, since fees and contract terms vary. For a quick estimate, the closing cost calculator in Automize CRM lets you enter your own price and fees.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Sources

Rates checked October 24, 2026. General information, not tax or legal advice.

Common questions

Does Alaska have a real estate transfer tax?

No. Alaska has no state transfer tax, and AS 43.98.035 also restricts boroughs and cities from taxing the transfer of real property, with limited exceptions for older local rules. The Recorder’s Office fee schedule lists recording and indexing fees only. Confirm local rules with your title company.

How much does it cost to record a deed in Alaska?

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Recorder’s Office lists $20.00 for the first page and $5.00 for each additional page. It also lists a $2.00 indexing fee for each name over six. A four-page deed with no extra names would cost $35.00 to record.

Who pays closing costs in Alaska, the buyer or the seller?

The sources checked for this post do not set a statewide custom. Who pays recording, title and escrow fees is set by your purchase contract. Ask your title company or closing attorney what is customary locally, since practices can differ between Anchorage and smaller markets.

Does an investor pay less in closing costs in a no-transfer-tax state?

Usually the transfer line is zero, but title, escrow and recording costs still apply to each closing. A double close still means two closings and two sets of costs, so the savings from having no transfer tax are real but do not remove other fees.