How to Use the Louisiana Farm Tax Exemption Form

To buy farm equipment in Louisiana without paying state or local sales tax, you use Form R-1060, the Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Sales Tax Exemption Certificate. But the form only works if you first hold an approved Form R-1091, the Commercial Farmer Certification from the Louisiana Department of Revenue. The Louisiana farm tax exemption form is really a two-form process: get certified first, then hand the certificate to the dealer at the register. Done correctly, both state and local sales tax come off qualifying purchases as of January 1, 2025.¹

Who Can Use the Exemption

Louisiana limits the exemption to “commercial farmers” as defined in La. R.S. 47:301(30). Three things all have to be true. You must be occupationally engaged in producing food or agricultural commodities for sale. You must regularly engage in commercial production for sale of crops, livestock, poultry, or other agricultural products. And you must report farm income and expenses on a federal Schedule F or an equivalent business return such as Form 1065, 1120, or 1120-S filed under a NAICS code beginning with 11.²

New operations that haven’t filed a Schedule F yet can still apply. You certify that you are commencing commercial operations and acknowledge that failing to report farm income later will jeopardize your certification. Hobby farmers, backyard gardeners, and anyone raising animals or crops purely for personal use do not qualify.³

Step One: Get Certified With Form R-1091

You cannot use the R-1060 at a dealer without an approved R-1091. The R-1060 itself requires a copy of your approved certification attached to the form.⁴

To apply, submit the R-1091 application with your most recent federal income tax return and the schedule you used to report farm income. If you’re not required to register with the Louisiana Workforce Commission, also include the NAICS code from Box B on your Schedule F. You can submit by mail to the Louisiana Department of Revenue, Revenue Processing Center, P.O. Box 4998, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-4998, by fax to (225) 237-6765, or online through the LDR’s LaTAP portal. Incomplete applications or missing documentation will be denied.⁵

Once approved, your R-1091 carries a certification number and an expiration date. Keep it where you can find it. You’ll reference both every time you fill out an R-1060.

Step Two: Fill Out and Present Form R-1060

Download Form R-1060 from the Louisiana Department of Revenue website.⁶ The certificate asks for:

Your Commercial Farm/Farmer Certification number from Form R-1091 and its expiration date
The physical location of your commercial farm and your mailing address
Phone number and email address
A description of the farm equipment being purchased, the purchase price, invoice number, and date of purchase
A checkbox showing which exemption category the equipment falls under
Your printed name, title, signature, and date

Attach a copy of your approved R-1091. You do not file the R-1060 with the state for each purchase. You present it to the seller at the time of purchase, and the seller keeps the certificate and attached R-1091 on file to document why no sales tax was collected. If the seller is audited, those are the documents that protect them.⁷

Forget the certificate at the counter and the vendor is required to charge you full sales tax. Louisiana also does not accept out-of-state exemption certificates or the multi-state exemption certificate.⁸

What the R-1060 Covers

Form R-1060 is for agricultural machinery and equipment used directly in farming. The qualifying items listed on the form include:

Rubber-tired farm tractors, cane harvesters, cane loaders, cotton pickers, combines, hay balers, and their attachments and sprayers
Clippers, cultivators, discs, plows, and spreaders
Irrigation wells, drives, motors, and equipment, including polyroll tubing used for commercial farm irrigation
Other equipment used for agricultural purposes in the production of food and fiber
On-farm facilities used to dry or store grain, and materials used to build them
Agricultural fencing: gates, hog wire and barbed wire fencing, posts, rails, nails, hinges, concrete, and electric fence components

⁴

Buying inputs like feed, seed, or fertilizer rather than equipment? That’s a different certificate. The Louisiana Department of Revenue uses Form R-1097 for farm-related products for business use. Confirm with the seller which certificate applies to your transaction.

What the R-1060 Does Not Cover

Read the form carefully. La. R.S. 47:305.3 does not provide an exemption from sales tax on parts or labor used in the repair or modification of qualifying farm equipment.⁴ You can buy the tractor tax-free. You still pay full sales tax on replacement parts and repair labor for that same tractor.

Equipment used primarily for landscaping, non-commercial gardening, or personal transportation also falls outside the exemption. The seller is responsible for verifying that the equipment clearly qualifies and can be held liable for accepting an exemption certificate on items that obviously don’t meet the statute.⁴ Expect pushback from a dealer on anything that looks dual-use.

Records to Keep

Hold onto every R-1060 you issue, together with the matching invoices and receipts. The IRS generally requires tax records to be kept at least three years from the date you filed the return, and six years if you underreport income by more than 25 percent of gross income.⁹ Six years is a sensible floor for both state and federal audits.

Penalties for Misusing the Certificate

Claiming the exemption on purchases that don’t qualify is not just an administrative headache. Under La. R.S. 47:1642, anyone who willfully files a false or fraudulent return or statement with the intent to evade taxes faces criminal penalties. If the tax owed exceeds $1,000, the punishment can reach a fine of up to $2,000 or up to two years’ imprisonment, or both. For smaller amounts, the maximum is a $1,000 fine or up to one year of imprisonment.¹⁰

The operative word is “willfully.” A good-faith mistake on one purchase is a different situation from a pattern of claiming the exemption on items that clearly have nothing to do with farming. The Department of Revenue can also revoke your commercial farmer certification and pursue retroactive tax collection if it determines your operation does not genuinely meet the definition.

1
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Are There Changes to the Agricultural Exemptions and Exclusions?
2
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Commercial Farmer Definition for Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Feed, Seed and Fertilizer
3
FindLaw. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 – 301
4
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Sales Tax Exemption Certificate
5
Louisiana Department of Revenue. How Can I Get Another Copy of Form R-1091, Commercial Farmer Certification?
6
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Farm Equipment Sales Tax Exemption Certificate
7
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:305.3 – Exemptions; Agricultural
8
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Do I Have to Get an Exemption Certificate on All My Customers Making an Exempt Purchase?
9
Internal Revenue Service. How Long Should I Keep Records?
10
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:1642 – Criminal Penalty for Filing False Returns