Your Absence from Alaska and the PFD Program

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Are you going to be absent from Alaska this year? If you are, you need to be aware of the rules of the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) program for absences and how they affect your eligibility.

This document is intended to cover the most common circumstances related to absences as they pertain to the PFD program. This document refers to eligibility only in the context of an absence from Alaska – other requirements of the PFD program must be met to be otherwise eligible. Refer to PFD statutes and regulations for more detailed information or contact your nearest Dividend Information Office to get more specific information about your absence.

Toll-free Number (800) 733-8813 (Available year-round in Alaska and from October 1 through March 31 from out of state).

You may be absent from Alaska in a calendar year for up to 180 days for any reason and still be eligible for a dividend, as long as you meet all other requirements of the program.

For certain absences, you may still be eligible for a dividend even though you are absent from Alaska for more 180 days. These absences are referred to as “allowable absences” and are described under the Allowable Absences section below.

While you are absent, whether one day or the whole year, you must maintain your Alaska residency and intend to return to Alaska and remain a resident. If you do anything to establish residency in another state or country while you are out of Alaska, such as registering to vote or filing a resident income tax return, you will not be eligible for a dividend.

Example. You move from Alaska in May to take a new job Washington and purchase a home there. After two weeks, you decide to come back to Alaska to live again. Even though you were gone less than 180 days, you will not qualify for the next dividend because you broke your Alaska residency and were not an Alaska resident for the entire calendar year.

You must report all absences if you were absent from Alaska for more than 90 total days during the calendar year, or were absent when you file your application. For purposes of the dividend program, absences are counted in cumulative days, not consecutive days, for a calendar year. The division counts the day you leave as a day in Alaska; the day you return is counted as an absence day.

Example. You left Alaska on March 1 and return May 20, and again from October 1 through the 16^th. The total number of absence days in this example is 95 days (80 for the March 1 through May 20 absence and 15 days for the October absence). All absences must be reported on your dividend application because your total absence days exceed 90 days. Since the total number of days is less than 180 days, you may still be eligible for a dividend.

Permanent Fund Dividend laws allow persons to be absent from Alaska for more than 180 days if they are absent for one or more of the following reasons:

2) Receiving vocational, professional, or other specific education not reasonably available in Alaska

3) Serving on active duty as a member of the U.S. armed forces or accompanying the eligible military member if you are a spouse, minor dependent or disabled dependent

5) Receiving continuous medical treatment under a licensed physician’s care if the treatment is not based on a need for climatic change

6) Providing care for your parent, spouse, sibling, child, or stepchild with a critical life-threatening illness that requires travel outside for treatment at a medical specialty complex

7) Providing care for your terminally ill parent, spouse, sibling, child or stepchild

8) Settling the estate of your deceased parent, spouse, sibling, child or stepchild provided the absence does not exceed 220 cumulative days

13) Accompanying another eligible resident who is absent for reasons (1), (2), (5)-(12) as the spouse, minor dependent, or disabled dependent of the eligible resident

Example. You are absent from Alaska for the entire calendar year while serving on active duty in the army in Fort Lewis, Washington. While out of state, you claimed Alaska on your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) as your state of residency for the entire calendar year. You will be eligible for a dividend because you are on an allowable absence. However, note the 72-hour rule below.

Example. In January, you and your child moved to Eugene, Oregon to be with your wife who is a full-time student at the University of Oregon. Your wife was a full-time student for the whole year except summer school. You, your wife and child will all be eligible for a dividend because you are on allowable absences. Your wife is on the full-time student absence under (1) and you and your child are on allowable absence (13) accompanying an eligible resident. However, note the 72-hour rule below.

All persons on allowable absences must be physically present in Alaska for at least 72 consecutive hours during the prior two years before the current dividend year.

Example. You are an Alaska resident who has been stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia on active duty military service since July 1, 2000 and are applying for a 2003 dividend. You returned to Alaska from June 6 though June 11, 2001. You will be eligible for a 2003 dividend because you were in Alaska for more than 72 consecutive hours during the two prior years (2001 and 2002).

The commissioner of the Department of Revenue may waive this rule for military members (and spouses, minor dependents and disabled dependents of the military members) during times of national emergency. If applicable, contact the Permanent Fund Dividend Division to see if there is a waiver in effect for the dividend period you are applying for.

If you have been on an allowable absence for more than 5 years, the department will take a closer look at your application and look for indicators of your intent to return to Alaska. To maintain your eligibility under the dividend division will look at factors that indicate your intent to return to Alaska. You will need to spend at least 30 cumulative days in Alaska during the past 5 years, unless you can demonstrate that unavoidable circumstances prevented you from returning to Alaska. The department will look at such things as the length of the absence compared to the time spent in Alaska, home ownership in Alaska, and Alaska voter registration and vehicle license.

Beginning with the 2008 dividend, you will not be eligible for a dividend if you have been on allowable absences for the 10 preceding years and continue to be on an allowable absence greater than 180 days in the qualifying year. This rule does not apply if you are a member of the U.S. Congress or serving on the staff of an Alaska member of the U.S. Congress.

If you were absent for more than 180 total days in a calendar year including one or more allowable absences during the year, you have a limited number of days that you may be absent for other reasons in order to still qualify for the dividend. There are different rules for the number of additional days depending on your circumstances as outlined below.

If you are on active duty, you and your family (spouse, minor dependent and disabled dependent) have 180 additional days if you are only claiming your active duty service time as an allowable absence. If you claim other allowable absences (LINK TO AS 43.23.008 HERE), your additional days will be limited as follows:

Example: You are a military member and get discharged from active service on July 1. While you were serving in the military, your wife and minor child accompanied you. You and your family decided to spend time on the East Coast after your discharge and return to Alaska September 1 (62 days). In October, you take a vacation in California from October 2 to November 15 (44 days). You and your family will still be eligible for a dividend because you were not absent from Alaska for more than 180 days in addition to your allowable military absence.

Example: You are a student at the University of Washington and graduate May 14. You stay in Seattle after school until June 1 and then take an extended vacation in Mexico until September 30 (139 days). You return to Alaska October 1. On October 15, you enlist for active duty military and are stationed outside of Alaska. Even though you are claiming a military absence and had less than 180 additional absence days, you will not be eligible for a dividend because you also claimed an allowable absence as a student. To be eligible for a dividend you would have need to be absent less than 121 additional days.

Example. You served as active duty military from January 1 to July 1 when you were discharged. You decide to take a vacation and spend time with family in Oregon after your discharge and come back to Alaska on September 1 (92 days). Later in the year, you leave Alaska to care for your terminally ill father in Oregon from November 20 through December 10 (21 days). Your total additional absence days were 102 days. Even though you are claiming a military absence and had less than 180 additional absence days, you will not be eligible for a dividend because you also claimed an allowable absence for the time you were caring for your father. To be eligible for a dividend, you would have needed to be absent less than 46 additional days.

If you are a full-time student in good standing, you and your family (spouse, minor dependent and disabled dependent) have 120 additional days if you are only claiming your student absence as an allowable absence. If you claim other allowable absences, your additional days will be limited to 45 days.

Example: You are a student in Seattle meeting the requirements of the education allowable absence and attend school from January 5 through May 15. You then take a summer job in Seattle for the summer and are out of school from May 16 through August 20 (96 days). For the remainder of the year, you are in school in Seattle from August 21 through December 15. You then return to Alaska to be with family for Christmas break from December 16 through January 4 the next year. You will still be eligible for a dividend since you were on an education allowable absence during the year and the additional days you were absent was less than 121 days.

Example. You are a student at the University of Washington and graduate May 14. From May 15 to July 31 (78 days), you took a vacationed and visited family in California. Later in the year, you leave Alaska to care for your terminally ill father in Oregon from November 20 through December 10 (20 days). Your total additional absence days were 98 days. Even though you are claiming a student absence and had less than 120 additional absence days, you will not be eligible for a dividend because you also claimed another allowable absence for the time you were caring for your father. To be eligible for a dividend, you would have needed to be absent less than 46 additional days.

If you are not a military member or student, and you are on an allowable absence for more than 180 days, you are limited to 45 additional days.

Example: You are out of state from January 5 to April 8 receiving continuous medical treatment under a licensed physician’s care (an allowable absence). Later that year you are absent from August 10 through September 29 for vacation (50 days). You are absent from October 20 through December 31 again receiving continuous medical treatment under a licensed physician’s care. Even though you were on an allowable absence during the year, you will not be eligible for a dividend because you had more than 45 additional days of absences during the time you were on vacation in August and September. To be eligible for a dividend, you would have needed to be absent less than 46 additional days.

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