Alaska Property Tax Relief: The $150,000 Senior and Disabled Veteran Exemption, Local Breaks, and the PFD

Alaska doesn’t send out a state property tax bill. Property taxes are levied by unified municipalities, boroughs and some cities [2][3]. But wherever a local property tax applies, state law requires a big break: the first $150,000 of assessed value is exempt on the home of a resident who is 65 or older, a disabled veteran, or a qualifying widow or widower [1].

Who taxes property in Alaska

State law lets a unified municipality levy a property tax, and lets a borough levy one areawide, outside its cities, or in a service area [2]. Home rule and first class cities can levy one too, including cities outside any borough [2][3]. So whether you pay property tax at all, and at what rate, depends on where you live. Check with your borough or city assessor.

The $150,000 senior and disabled veteran exemption

Under AS 29.45.030(e), real property that a resident owns and occupies as their primary residence and permanent place of abode is exempt from taxation on the first $150,000 of assessed value if the owner is [1]:

• 65 or older;
• a disabled veteran; or
• at least 60 and the widow or widower of someone who qualified as a senior or disabled veteran.

A “widow or widower” here means someone whose spouse died and who hasn’t remarried [1]. Mobile homes count as real property for this exemption [1].

Disabled veterans

To qualify as a disabled veteran, you must be an Alaska resident who was separated from U.S. military service under conditions that weren’t dishonorable, with a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty and rated 50% or more by your branch of service or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs [1]. Certain veterans of the Alaska Territorial Guard with a 50% rating also qualify [1]. The assessor must ask a disabled veteran for proof of the rating [1].

Rules that trip people up

• You have to apply in writing. The exemption isn’t automatic, and each municipality sets its own procedures and deadlines by ordinance [1].
• The PFD can matter. A municipality can require that you be eligible for the Permanent Fund Dividend for that year or the year before, or would have been if you’d applied [1].
• One exemption per property. If two people in the home qualify, they decide between themselves who claims it [1].
• No transfers to qualify. The assessor can deny the exemption if the property was conveyed to you mainly to get it [1].
• Missed the deadline? The local governing body can accept a late application for good cause [1]. If an exemption is approved after you’ve paid, the tax already paid on the exempt value is refunded [1].

Example: how Juneau handles it

The City and Borough of Juneau shows how one municipality applies the state rules [5]:

• Seniors qualify if they’re 65 on or before December 31 of the preceding year.
• Applicants must own and occupy the home and be eligible for the PFD.
• New applicants file on or before March 31 of the first year they’re eligible.
• Juneau also has a separate, annual hardship exemption for people who already get the senior or disabled veteran exemption, if 2% of gross household income is less than their property tax; that application is due on or before April 30.

Other boroughs and cities set their own dates, so check with your local assessor early in the year.

Local breaks on top of the state exemption

• Hardship: a municipality can grant an exemption beyond the first $150,000 in cases of hardship, under state regulations [1].
• Residential exemption: with voter approval, a municipality can exempt residential property from taxation, up to $75,000 of assessed value per residence, and can adjust that amount each year for the cost of living [4].
• Widows and widowers under 60: with voter approval, a municipality can extend the exemption to a younger widow or widower of a disabled veteran, or of someone who died of a service-connected cause while serving [1].

The state reimburses boroughs and cities for some of the revenue they lose to the required exemption, subject to appropriations [1].

A break on your car at 65

One motor vehicle per household owned by a resident 65 or older on January 1 of the assessment year is exempt from either property tax on the vehicle or the local motor vehicle registration tax, on written application [1]. Separately, a resident 65 or older can apply to be exempt from the state’s registration fee for one vehicle [6].

The Permanent Fund Dividend

The PFD isn’t a property tax program, but it’s money in Alaskans’ pockets each year, and it can affect your local exemption [1].

• 2026 amount: $1,200, which includes a $200 energy relief payment [7]. The 2025 dividend was $1,000 [8].
• When to apply: each year from January 1 through March 31 [9].
• Who qualifies: for the 2026 dividend, you had to be an Alaska resident for all of calendar year 2025 and intend to remain a resident indefinitely, among other requirements [10].

Where to start

• Your borough or city assessor: the senior and disabled veteran exemption, hardship and residential exemptions, and deadlines [1].
• The Alaska DMV: the senior vehicle exemptions are claimed on a written application form prescribed by the state [1][6].
• The Permanent Fund Dividend Division: dividend applications and eligibility [7][10].