Short-term rentals in Anchorage, explained properly.

Title 21 defines a short-term rental as a furnished dwelling unit, or part of one, rented for compensation on a temporary basis to a single person or group for fewer than 30 consecutive days, classified as a visitor accommodation (21.05.050J.7); it may also be an accessory use (21.05.070D.3). AO 2025-115(S-2), approved December 16, 2025 and in effect since May 1, 2026, added this use; its title says it amends Title 21 to explicitly allow short-term rentals in all residential zoning districts and some commercial districts. In the Anchorage Bowl's Table of Allowed Uses (Table 21.05-1, an attachment to Title 21), "P" means the use is allowed by right and a blank cell means it is prohibited (21.05.010A). The Short-Term Rentals row shows P in R-1, R-1A, R-2A, R-2D, R-2M, R-3, R-3A, R-4, R-4A, R-5, R-6, R-7, R-8, R-9, R-10, B-1A, B-1B, B-3 and RO, and blank cells in MC, I-1, MI, AF, PR, PLI and W. The two official versions differ in one cell: the table posted with the Code shows P under I-2 and a blank under DR, while Exhibit A of the ordinance as approved shows P under DR (its table excerpt has no I-2 column). This page does not say which is right; ask the Zoning and Land Use Division about DR and I-2. The Downtown table (Table 21.11-2) shows P in B-2A, B-2B and B-2C. Girdwood (Chapter 21.09), Chugiak-Eagle River (Chapter 21.10) and the A, TA and TR districts have their own tables, not listed here. The Municipal Clerk's page says short-term rentals are permitted by right in all residential zones and some commercial zones and refers zoning questions to the Zoning and Land Use Division. No land use permit for a change of use is needed when the building's previous principal use was residential or another visitor accommodation (21.05.050J.7.c).

Section 10.90.020A lists the information the owner must give for each short-term rental; the Clerk accepts the registration only when all of it is provided (10.90.020B). The owner must report changes to the address, unit type, owners, local contact or owner residence to the Municipality within 30 days (10.90.020B.1). The Clerk's page says an approved registration is issued as an STR Registration Number in a certificate sent by email.

Section 10.90.020C says each accepted registration is given an individual registration number that must be listed with the short-term rental on any hosting platform or any other advertising medium where it is offered, and that the owner is responsible for showing it. The Clerk's page says that beginning July 31, 2026, all short-term rentals operating in the Municipality must display the number on all listings and advertisements, regardless of platform.

Section 10.90.020D bars hosting platforms from collecting a fee or anything of value for conducting, facilitating or completing a booking of a short-term rental in the Municipality that is not registered, or whose listing does not display the registration number. The room tax chapter requires hosting platforms to comply with Chapter 10.90 (12.20.031K); platform room tax duties are under Local taxes below.

Section 10.90.020F set the 90-day grace period and the 14-day notice period. A July 21, 2026 Assembly resolution (AR 2026-213, As Amended) encouraged enforcement agencies to focus on getting owners registered before fining them, so that through September 30, 2026 an owner receiving a notice of violation should get up to 30 days to register (Clerk's page); that period has passed. Section 10.90.020E applies the license suspension, revocation and appeal sections of Chapter 10.10 to short-term rental registrations: the Clerk may revoke, suspend or restrict a registration on grounds such as a false or misleading statement in the application or a Code violation, after a chance to be heard (10.10.035, 10.10.040), and decisions may be appealed to the Superior Court within 30 days (10.10.045). The Clerk's page says violations can be reported to the Code Enforcement Hotline (907-343-4141).

Section 21.05.050J.7.b.i applies to every short-term rental in a dwelling unit supported by on-site well and wastewater disposal systems; accessory-use short-term rentals must meet the same standard (21.05.070D.3).

AO 2025-115(S-2) folded bed and breakfasts into the short-term rental use type. The Clerk's page says bed and breakfast permits are no longer issued or valid beginning May 1, 2026, that these businesses must register as short-term rentals, and that the bed tax is still required.

The Clerk's page says businesses that must have an administrative permit under 21.03.030 are exempt from the short-term rental registration program, lists the examples above, says the list is not complete, and refers questions to Zoning and Land Use Review.

Anchorage Municipal Code 12.20.020A levies a tax on all room rents equal to 12% of the room rent paid to an operator; the guest pays it and the operator collects it with the rent and shows it as a separate item on the bill. Rent for the same natural person or persons for 30 or more consecutive days is exempt (12.20.022A.4). Alaska has no state sales tax (see state law below), so no state tax is added to this rate.

Section 12.20.030 requires every operator to obtain a certificate of registration for each location before renting or offering to rent rooms, to display it where guests can see it, and says there is no charge. An operator who uses a registered hosting platform as the sole method of renting is not subject to the room tax chapter to the extent the platform performs the operator's duties, except for keeping records (12.20.031C).

Section 12.20.031A requires every hosting platform that agrees to accept room rental payments from guests (with narrow exemptions for hotel-brand platforms and some tour and travel sellers) to obtain a certificate of registration and to collect and remit the room tax on behalf of all operators it serves. Section 12.20.031G says that to the extent a hosting platform collects taxes on an operator's behalf, the operator's liability for those taxes is satisfied. For bookings made outside such a platform the operator collects the tax (12.20.020A).

The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (Division of Community and Regional Affairs) says that at present the State of Alaska does not levy a sales tax, that several municipal governments do, and that a local sales tax is not authorized unless voters approve it at an election (page last revised July 1, 2013). Two bills in the 2025-2026 Legislature would add state taxes but have not passed: SB 227, the Governor's bill establishing a state sales and use tax, has been in the Senate Finance Committee since February 19, 2026, and HB 310, which would establish a bed tax, was referred to the House Labor and Commerce Committee on February 16, 2026 with no later action shown. This field covers state taxes only; local room or bed taxes are on each place's page.

Searched: the Alaska Legislature's full-text search for "short-term rental" across bills, journals, committee minutes and documents from 2023 to 2026 (25 results: HB 184 of the 33rd Legislature; HB 13, a municipal property tax exemption bill that mentions converting a short-term rental unit to a long-term rental; and committee minutes and journal entries), and the list of all bill short titles for the 34th Legislature (2025-2026), which has no short-term rental bill (HB 310, a bed tax bill, is described in the field above). HB 184 (Short-term rental unit registry), which would have established a state short-term rental unit registry under the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, was read the first time and referred to the House Labor and Commerce Committee on May 1, 2023; no later action is shown. The text of the Alaska Statutes itself was not full-text searched for this page.