Alaska prescribes no separate net operating loss carryforward or carryback period; the Internal Revenue Code period governs, applied on the Alaska combined-report basis

# Summary

Alaska does not prescribe its own net operating loss carryforward period, carryback period, or deduction limitation. There is no Alaska-specific NOL statute setting a number of years.

The reason is conformity rather than silence. AS 43.20.021(a) adopts 26 U.S.C. 1–1399 and 6001–7872 of the Internal Revenue Code by reference as part of the Alaska Net Income Tax Act. The NOL rules — the carryforward period, whether carryback is available, and the percentage limitation on the deduction — are therefore whatever the adopted Internal Revenue Code provides for the year in question, not a separate Alaska number.

Anyone searching for "the Alaska NOL carryforward period" should expect to find none, and should apply the federal period instead, computed on the Alaska basis described below.

# How the federal rule is applied on the Alaska basis

Adopting the federal NOL rules does not mean the federal NOL amount carries over unchanged. Alaska computes its own measure of income first.

15 AAC 20.300 defines the starting point as "taxable income before net operating loss determined under the Internal Revenue Code as excepted to or modified by AS 43.20 and this section," computed as if the corporation were included in the taxpayer's combined report. Because Alaska requires a combined report for a unitary business and apportions the result, the loss available in Alaska is the loss determined on that combined, apportioned basis — not simply the loss reported on the federal return.

15 AAC 20.540 likewise directs the taxpayer to determine income subject to tax at ordinary rates "before any net operating loss deduction" when applying its computation.

On Form 6000, carryover items including net operating losses are reported on Form 6385; the instructions warn filers to confirm their software supports that form when claiming carryovers.

# Coverage and verification

This determination covers tax year 2025 and was verified on 2026-08-18 against Alaska Statutes Title 43, Alaska Administrative Code Title 15, and the Alaska Department of Revenue's 2025 Form 6000 instruction booklet, all ingested in this library.

It asserts one thing: that Alaska sets no separate NOL period or limitation of its own, and that the adopted Internal Revenue Code supplies those terms. It does not state a specific number of carryforward years, because Alaska law does not state one — the governing figure comes from the federal provision as adopted under AS 43.20.021 for the year at issue, and should be taken from the federal rules rather than from an Alaska source.