Covington Sales Tax: Rate, Filing, and Penalties

The sales tax rate in Covington, Louisiana is 9.25% as of January 1, 2026. That total combines a 5% Louisiana state sales tax with 4.25% in local taxes collected within St. Tammany Parish, and it applies to most retail purchases made inside city limits.¹²

Where the 9.25% Goes

The state’s 5% share is locked in through December 31, 2029, after Louisiana raised it from 4.45% effective January 1, 2025.² The 4.25% local portion is split among three St. Tammany jurisdictions:¹

School Board: 2.00%
City of Covington: 2.00%
Law Enforcement: 0.25%

Retailers remit the state portion to the Louisiana Department of Revenue and the local portion to the parish tax collector.

What You Pay Tax On in Covington

Physical Goods

Louisiana defines taxable tangible personal property broadly: anything you can see, weigh, measure, feel, or touch. Clothing, electronics, furniture, appliances, and building materials are all taxed at the full rate. Stocks, bonds, and precious metal bullion valued solely on metal content are excluded from the definition.³

Digital Products

Starting January 1, 2025, Louisiana expanded its sales tax base to cover digital products. Downloads, streaming subscriptions, digital books, apps, and similar electronic goods are now taxable.⁴ A digital movie purchase or music streaming subscription billed by a Louisiana-collecting retailer gets the full 9.25%.⁵

Some Services

Louisiana taxes certain services, not all of them. Repairs and maintenance of tangible personal property, printing, and telecommunications are commonly taxable.⁵ Professional services such as legal and accounting work generally are not.

What’s Exempt or Taxed at a Lower Rate

Groceries bought for home consumption and prescription drugs are exempt from the state sales tax. A 2024 constitutional amendment preserved these exemptions.⁶ Local sales tax may still apply to some of these items depending on parish and municipal ordinances, so your register receipt can show tax even on exempt categories.

Nonprofit organizations don’t get a blanket exemption in Louisiana. The state carves out narrow categories instead: organizations serving blind persons with at least 75% public funding, nonprofit blood banks, youth organizations chartered by Congress, and qualifying literacy nonprofits each have their own statutory exclusion.⁷ A nonprofit that doesn’t fit one of those categories pays sales tax like anyone else.

Resale purchases are excluded when a business buys inventory specifically to resell. You claim the exclusion by giving the seller a valid resale certificate. Louisiana law requires local tax collectors to accept a resale certificate issued by the Department of Revenue as long as it includes the buyer’s parish and local sales tax account number.⁸ Without a certificate on file, the sale is presumed taxable in an audit.

Buying from Out-of-State Sellers

If you buy something taxable online or from an out-of-state seller and no Louisiana sales tax is charged, you owe consumer use tax at the same rate. The obligation falls on the buyer to report and pay the tax to the Louisiana Department of Revenue.⁹ Businesses face the same rule on inventory or equipment bought from out-of-state vendors without Louisiana tax collected at the point of sale.

Most of the time, you won’t owe anything because the seller already collects. A remote seller must register and collect once its gross revenue from Louisiana sales tops $100,000 or it completes 200 or more Louisiana transactions in the current or prior calendar year.¹⁰ Marketplace facilitators like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart Marketplace are themselves the designated dealer for sales made through their platforms, including sales by third-party merchants.¹¹ If you sell through one of those platforms, the facilitator handles the tax on those orders, but you still owe tax on any sales made through your own website or other channels.

If You Run a Business in Covington

Register First

Any business collecting sales tax must register with the Louisiana Department of Revenue using Form R-16019, the Application for Louisiana Revenue Account Number. There is no fee to register in most cases.¹² You’ll need your FEIN assignment letter from the IRS, your legal business name as registered, your physical business address, owner and officer information, and your intended filing frequency.¹³

File and Pay by the 20th

State sales tax returns and payments go through LaTAP, the Louisiana Taxpayer Access Point, by the 20th of the month following each reporting period.¹⁴ File on time and you earn vendor’s compensation at an effective rate of 0.84% of the state tax collected, capped at $750 per month per dealer. File or pay late and you forfeit it entirely.¹⁵

Penalties for Late Filing or Nonpayment

Filing a return late draws a penalty of 5% of the tax due for the first 30 days, plus another 5% for each additional 30-day period, capped at 25%. Filing on time but underpaying triggers a separate penalty at the same rate on the unpaid balance. Combined, the two penalties cannot exceed five 30-day periods per return.¹⁶ Unpaid balances also accrue interest. The 2025 rate is 11.25% annually.¹⁷

Negligence adds another 20% of the deficiency. Willful disregard of the tax laws bumps that to 40%.¹⁸

The criminal exposure is real. Willfully failing to collect, account for, or pay over sales tax carries a fine of up to $10,000 and up to five years in prison.¹⁹ Filing a false return or willfully failing to file is prosecuted separately: when the tax at issue exceeds $1,000, the fine can reach $2,000 and imprisonment up to two years; for smaller amounts, up to a $1,000 fine and one year in jail.²⁰

How Long to Keep Your Records

The standard statute of limitations for a local sales tax audit in Louisiana is three years, measured from December 31 of the year the tax became due. A false or fraudulent return interrupts that period entirely, as does failing to file with intent to defraud. If you never file a required return, the clock doesn’t start until you do, and the three-year period restarts from that filing.²¹ Keep sales records, exemption certificates, and filings for at least three years. Four or five years is safer in case the lookback period is extended by agreement.

1
Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators. St. Tammany Parish – City to Parish Index
2
Louisiana Department of Revenue. What Is the State Sales Tax Rate?
3
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 301 – Definitions
4
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Are Digital Products Subject to Sales and Use Tax?
5
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 321 – Additional Tax
6
Louisiana Department of Revenue. How Does the Amendment Affect Sales Taxes Charged on Groceries, Utilities, and Prescription Drugs?
7
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Exemptions for Nonprofit Organizations
8
Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators. FAQ – LATA
9
Louisiana Department of Revenue. What Is Louisiana Consumer Use Tax?
10
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Remote Sellers FAQs
11
Louisiana Department of Revenue. RSIB 23-001 Marketplace Facilitators and Louisiana Merchants
12
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Instructions for Application for Louisiana Revenue Account Number
13
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Application for Louisiana Revenue Account Number
14
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Louisiana Department of Revenue – Home
15
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Revenue Information Bulletin No. 25-006 – Vendors Compensation
16
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 1602 – Penalty for Failure to File or Pay
17
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Revenue Information Bulletin No. 25-001 – 2025 Interest Rate
18
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 1604.1 – Accuracy-Related Penalty
19
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 1641 – Criminal Penalties
20
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 1642 – Criminal Penalty for Evasion of Tax
21
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 337.67 – Prescription