CBJ Sales Tax: Rate Cap, Exemptions, and Filing Deadlines

The Juneau sales tax is a 5 percent tax on most retail sales, rentals, and services within the City and Borough of Juneau, with a per-item cap that limits the tax on any single item or service to $750. Essential groceries and home utilities became exempt in late 2025 after voters approved Proposition 2, and additional exemptions cover seniors, nonprofits, resale inventory, and sales delivered outside the borough.

The Rate and the Per-Item Cap

The combined rate is 5 percent. Part of it is permanent; part is a temporary 1 percent that voters reauthorize on a five-year cycle. The current temporary portion is set to expire on September 30, 2028 unless voters renew it in the October 2027 election.¹ If it lapses, the rate drops to 4 percent.

Only the first $15,000 of any single item or single service is taxable, which caps the sales tax on one purchase at $750. That cap took effect January 1, 2026, and the borough adjusts it every two years using Anchorage Consumer Price Index data.² It matters most for vehicles, boats, and large construction contracts.

What’s Exempt

Essential Food

Purchases of essential food made on or after November 20, 2025 are exempt for all Juneau residents automatically. No card is needed at the register. The definition tracks the federal SNAP rule at 7 U.S.C. § 2012(k), so it covers groceries and food products for home consumption plus seeds and plants for personal food gardens. It does not cover alcohol, tobacco, or hot prepared foods meant to be eaten right away.³

Home Utilities

The utility exemption applies to services sold to individuals for non-commercial use at their principal home. That includes electricity, heating fuel (oil, propane, wood pellets, kerosene), CBJ water and wastewater, and curbside garbage and recycling collection or personal landfill use.³ Commercial accounts and second homes do not qualify.

Seniors

Residents 65 and older can apply for a Senior Sales Tax Exemption card. The card removes tax at the register on SNAP-eligible food, electricity, heating fuel, CBJ water utilities, and garbage and landfill service, and it doubles as a Capital Transit bus pass.⁴ Seniors with gross income below 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for Alaska may also qualify for a hardship rebate on sales tax paid during the year.⁵

Nonprofits

Organizations with 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) status can apply for a sales tax exemption certificate by submitting the IRS determination letter with their application.⁶ Membership dues paid to qualifying nonprofits are also exempt.⁷

Resale and Out-of-Borough Sales

Businesses buying inventory for resale can apply for a Resale of Goods Certificate to buy stock without paying tax. It’s only issued to businesses that are registered and current on filings and payments, and it must be renewed each year.⁸

Sales are also exempt when the order comes from a buyer outside the borough and the goods or services are delivered outside the borough.⁹ Both halves matter. A local buyer picking goods up in Juneau does not qualify, even if they live somewhere else.

Who Has to Register

Any person, firm, or business that makes sales, provides services, or offers rentals in the borough must register with the sales tax administrator before doing business. Size and expected volume don’t matter. The Business Registration Form is available through the CBJ Sales Tax Office and asks for entity type, owner contact information, physical location, and mailing address; names should match the State of Alaska business license to avoid delays.¹⁰

Sales tax is not a tax on the business. Merchants collect it for the borough and are personally responsible for remitting it; uncollected tax is treated as the merchant’s own liability.¹¹

Seasonal and Temporary Sellers

Seasonal market vendors and summer tourism operators register the same way as year-round businesses. There is no short-term exemption, and a return is required for every reporting period while registered, even one with no sales.¹⁰

When a seasonal business closes, the final sales tax report is due within 15 days of closing. That short window catches operators off guard because the normal quarterly deadline may still be weeks away.¹⁰

Remote Sellers and Marketplace Platforms

Out-of-state sellers and online marketplace facilitators collect Juneau sales tax through the Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission (ARSSTC). A remote seller or facilitator must register if it had at least $100,000 in gross sales into Alaska in the current or previous calendar year. Marketplace facilitators count all sales across all sellers on the platform toward that threshold, then collect and remit for every seller in participating Alaska jurisdictions, Juneau included. Registration is due within 30 days of crossing the threshold, filing runs monthly through the ARSSTC portal unless a less frequent schedule is approved, and records must be kept for three years.¹²

Filing Schedule and the Timely-Filing Discount

Each registered business is assigned a filing frequency: monthly, quarterly, or annual. Quarterly is the most common. In every case the return is due on the last day of the month after the reporting period ends. A quarterly filer covering January through March owes a return by April 30; annual filers cover the calendar year and file by January 31. If a due date falls on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day.¹³

Returns go through the eGovern Online Sales Tax Portal or on paper forms mailed to the tax office. The borough offers a $30 timely filing discount. The name says “online” but online payment isn’t required; filing on time is what earns it.¹⁴ For a quarterly filer, that’s $120 a year for meeting deadlines.

Penalties for Late or Missing Returns

A return filed even one day late triggers a flat $25 late filing fee. A late payment penalty of 5 percent of the unpaid balance then accrues each month or fraction of a month, up to 25 percent.¹⁵

Interest runs on top of the penalty. The annual rate is set at 5 percent above the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate as of January 2 each year, rounded to the nearest whole percentage point, with a floor of 10 percent and a ceiling of 15 percent.¹⁶ Recent years have run at 13 percent.¹⁷

Chronic non-compliance can be charged as a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $25,000, or both. The borough also publishes a delinquent sales tax list.¹⁷

Records, Audits, and Disputing an Assessment

Businesses must keep documentation supporting reported gross sales and any claimed exemptions for at least three years, and the CBJ Sales Tax Office can examine those records at any point in that window.¹⁵ Keep the exemption certificate for every exempt sale; without it, an auditor will treat the sale as taxable.

If the borough issues an assessment you disagree with, you have 15 days from the mailing date of the notice to request a hearing before the city manager, where your books and records must be available for review. For a formal protest, you generally have to pay the disputed amount under written protest first, then file the appeal within 90 days or the protest is waived. Disputes of $500 or less have an informal path to the treasurer, who holds a hearing and issues a written decision. The finance director can waive the pay-first requirement in limited situations when the dispute arose from an audit and the taxpayer has filed on time.¹⁶

1
City and Borough of Juneau. One Percent
2
City and Borough of Juneau. Notice of Sales Tax Code Change – 2026 Sales Tax Cap Increase
3
City and Borough of Juneau. Sales Tax Food and Utility Exemptions
4
City and Borough of Juneau. Finance – Senior Citizen Tax Benefits
5
City and Borough of Juneau. Apply Now for Senior Citizen Hardship Tax Exemption Programs
6
City and Borough of Juneau. Application for Nonprofit Sales Tax Exemption Certificate
7
City and Borough of Juneau. Sales Tax Exemption Summary CBJ Ordinance 69.05.040
8
City and Borough of Juneau. Form Information – Resale of Goods Certificate
9
City and Borough of Juneau. Notice of Sales Tax Code Change and Ordinance 2021-30
10
City and Borough of Juneau. Finance – Business Registration
11
City and Borough of Juneau. Finance – Sales Tax
12
Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission. Business/Sellers
13
City and Borough of Juneau. Sales Tax Due Dates
14
City and Borough of Juneau. Finance – Sales Tax – Online Payment
15
City and Borough of Juneau. Filing Instructions – 5 Only Return – Online Discount
16
Municode Library. Juneau Code of Ordinances – Chapter 69.05 Uniform Sales Tax
17
City and Borough of Juneau. Delinquent Sales Taxes