If you sell to customers in Louisiana from outside the state, you must collect Louisiana online sales tax once your sales into the state cross $100,000 in a calendar year, charge the combined state and local rate for each delivery address, and file monthly returns with the Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers. If every one of your Louisiana sales goes through a marketplace like Amazon or Etsy, the platform handles that collection for you. The rules changed meaningfully on January 1, 2025, so even sellers who checked their obligations a year ago should recheck them now.
Who Has to Collect
A remote seller triggers a Louisiana collection obligation when gross revenue from sales delivered into the state exceeds $100,000 during the previous or current calendar year.1Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 47-340.1 – Marketplace Facilitators Only retail sales count; wholesale transactions intended for resale don’t. Louisiana dropped its separate 200-transaction trigger in August 2023, so the dollar figure is the only test now.
Once you cross the threshold, you have 30 days to register and must begin collecting within 60 days.1Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 47-340.1 – Marketplace Facilitators The threshold resets each calendar year, but once you qualify in any given year, the obligation applies for the rest of that year and continues into future years as long as you keep selling into Louisiana.
If you sell through more than one channel, add all Louisiana-bound revenue together when measuring against $100,000. The underlying authority for the economic nexus rule is the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., which permitted states to require tax collection from sellers with no physical presence inside their borders.2Supreme Court of the United States. South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.
When the Marketplace Collects for You
If you sell through a platform like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or Walmart Marketplace, the platform collects and remits Louisiana sales tax on your behalf. Louisiana law treats the marketplace facilitator as the dealer for every remote sale it processes, regardless of whether you have registered or would otherwise owe tax.1Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 47-340.1 – Marketplace Facilitators The facilitator’s own Louisiana revenue has to exceed $100,000 for the rule to kick in, a bar the major platforms easily clear.
So if every Louisiana sale you make flows through a qualifying marketplace, you can stop here. You don’t register separately for those transactions. But if you also sell through your own website or any other direct channel, revenue from those direct sales still counts toward your personal $100,000 threshold. Sales handled by a marketplace facilitator generally don’t count toward that independent threshold, but any direct sales do, and once you cross on direct sales alone, you owe tax on all of them.
What Rate to Charge
Louisiana no longer offers a simplified flat rate for remote sellers. You must collect at the actual combined state and local rate for each customer’s delivery address.3Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission. Frequently Asked Questions – Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission
The state portion is 5% as of January 1, 2025, up from 4.45%, and is set to remain at that level through December 31, 2029.4Louisiana Department of Revenue. What Is the State Sales Tax Rate On top of that, each of Louisiana’s 64 parishes imposes its own local sales tax. Combined rates typically run from about 8.45% to over 12%, depending on the parish and municipality.
The Commission publishes jurisdictional codes and rate tables so sellers can look up the exact tax for each delivery location.3Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission. Frequently Asked Questions – Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission Most sellers automate the lookup through tax software tied to the shipping address. Even though you charge location-specific rates, you still file one consolidated return through the Commission rather than filing separately with every parish.
What’s Taxable (and What Isn’t)
Louisiana’s 2024 Third Extraordinary Session widened the tax base effective January 1, 2025. Two expansions matter most for online sellers.
Digital products are now taxable. That covers digital audiovisual works, digital audio, ebooks, digital codes, apps, games, and digital periodicals, whether downloaded, streamed, or accessed by subscription. Sales of digital goods to Louisiana customers count toward your $100,000 nexus threshold and must be taxed once you’re registered.
A new provision, RS 47:301.3, also made several services taxable. “Prewritten computer software access services” (the statutory label for Software as a Service) and “information services” covering electronic data retrieval, research databases, and subscription information platforms are now in scope. Sellers of software subscriptions or data services to Louisiana customers may have a tax obligation for the first time.
Several familiar exemptions survived the overhaul:
- Prescription drugs are exempt from both state and local tax under a constitutional amendment that carried through the 2025 reforms.5Louisiana Department of Revenue. Does It Affect Sales Taxes Charged on Groceries Utilities and Prescription Drugs
- Groceries for home consumption, including bakery items, fresh produce, and packaged foods needing further preparation, are exempt from the state portion, though parishes may still tax them locally.6Louisiana Department of Revenue. Is There Sales Tax on Food
- Residential utilities are exempt from state tax under the same constitutional protection.5Louisiana Department of Revenue. Does It Affect Sales Taxes Charged on Groceries Utilities and Prescription Drugs
- Sales for resale are exempt when the buyer provides a valid resale certificate.
The 2025 reforms trimmed the list of optional local exemptions, so items that used to be exempt at the parish level may no longer be. Confirm the current status for any niche category you rely on before you assume the exemption still applies.
Registering and Filing
Remote sellers register with the Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers, not the Louisiana Department of Revenue.7Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers. Home Page – Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission The Commission is the single point of contact for state and local tax if you’re out of state, and its portal is where you’ll file and pay.8Louisiana Remote Sellers. Remote Sellers Filing
Registration is free. You’ll need your legal business name, FEIN (or SSN for a sole proprietor), business structure, the date you first made sales into Louisiana, and an estimate of monthly sales volume. Approval produces a registration certificate authorizing you to collect.
Returns are due monthly, by the 20th of the month after the reporting period.1Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 47-340.1 – Marketplace Facilitators If the 20th lands on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. The portal accepts either a formatted file upload from tax software or manual entry of totals, and it consolidates state and local amounts into one return. Payment is electronic, typically ACH. Keep the confirmation number along with your sales records.
Louisiana gives a vendor’s compensation credit for timely filing and payment, capped at $750 per month as of 2025 (reduced from $1,500). It partly offsets the cost of collecting tax on the state’s behalf.
What a Late or Missed Filing Costs
Miss a deadline and the price climbs quickly. Failure to file, or filing late, triggers a penalty of 5% of the tax due for the first 30 days, with another 5% for each subsequent 30-day period, capped at 25%. Filing on time but underpaying carries a separate 5% penalty with the same 30-day escalation and the same 25% cap.9Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 47-1602 – Specific Penalties Interest runs on top at an annual rate set three percentage points above the rate in RS 9:3500(B)(1), capped at 1.25% per month.10Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 47-1601 – Interest
A $10,000 liability left unfiled for five months hits the 25% penalty cap at $2,500, plus interest. If you discover you’ve been selling into Louisiana without collecting, address it before the Commission finds you. Several states run voluntary disclosure programs that shorten the look-back and waive some penalties; Louisiana-specific terms depend on current Commission policy.
Records to Keep
Louisiana requires tax records to be retained for at least five years from December 31 of the year the tax became due.11Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 44-36 For an online seller, that means transaction logs, invoices, shipping records, exemption certificates, and anything else documenting what you collected and remitted.
At a minimum, your records should show the date, amount, and destination of each sale; the rate applied; and the tax collected. Hold onto any resale certificates a buyer provided; you’ll need them to defend the exemption in an audit. Tax software usually captures all of this, but confirm your system retains data for the full five years. If a liability is in dispute or a refund claim is pending, the retention period extends until the matter is resolved.11Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 44-36