Louisiana property tax laws set a home’s assessed value at 10% of its fair market value, tax most commercial and business personal property at 15%, and shield the first $75,000 of a homeowner’s market value through the homestead exemption. Your actual bill is that assessed value, minus any exemptions, multiplied by the combined millage rate set by your parish and the local entities that tax you. Bills go out in December and are due December 31.
How Louisiana Values and Classifies Your Property
The Louisiana Constitution sorts taxable property into five classes and assigns each a fixed percentage of fair market value. Land is assessed at 10%. Residential improvements are assessed at 10%. Electric cooperative properties (excluding land) are at 15%, public service properties (excluding land) are at 25%, and everything else — including business personal property — is at 15%. These percentages are uniform statewide within each class.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Constitution Article VII Section 18 – Ad Valorem Taxes
The practical effect is straightforward. A home with a fair market value of $200,000 has an assessed value of $20,000. A commercial building at the same market value is assessed at $30,000. Parish assessors set fair market value using sales of comparable properties, replacement cost less depreciation, or the income the property generates, and the Louisiana Tax Commission can order a parish to reappraise when assessment levels drift more than 10% from constitutional standards.2Justia. Louisiana Code RS 47-1837 – Duties and Responsibilities
What You Actually Pay: Millages and the Bill
A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value. Most properties are subject to several millages stacked together — parish, school district, sheriff, levee district, and other local bodies — and the sum of those millages is what applies to your assessed value.3Louisiana House of Representatives. Louisiana Property Tax Basics
Take a home with a $250,000 market value. At the 10% residential rate, the assessed value is $25,000. Subtract the $7,500 homestead exemption, and $17,500 remains taxable. At a combined 120 mills, the annual bill is $17,500 × 0.120, or $2,100.
Combined millage rates vary widely across Louisiana’s 64 parishes. Some rural parishes fall under 80 mills; urban parishes with more services can exceed 150. Individual millages are approved by voters for set durations, so the total shifts as millages expire or new ones pass at the ballot.
The Homestead Exemption
The homestead exemption is the main property tax break most Louisiana homeowners get. It exempts the first $7,500 of assessed value from state, parish, and special ad valorem taxes on a primary residence.4Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Constitution Article VII Section 18 – Homestead Exemption Because residences are assessed at 10% of market value, that $7,500 shields the first $75,000 of your home’s fair market value.
To qualify, you must own and permanently occupy the home. Only one homestead exemption is allowed per owner statewide, and once granted, it stays in place as long as you live there. You do not reapply each year.
One boundary worth knowing: in most of the state the homestead exemption does not apply to municipal taxes, though it does apply to any municipal tax levied specifically for school purposes. Orleans Parish is the exception — there the exemption reaches general city, school, levee, and levee district taxes.4Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Constitution Article VII Section 18 – Homestead Exemption
Other Exemptions and the Assessment Freeze
Veterans With a Total Disability
Veterans rated 100% service-connected disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are exempt from all ad valorem taxes on their home, except for certain municipal assessments.5Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs. State Benefits This is a full exemption rather than a reduction, which can matter on a higher-value home where the homestead exemption alone would still leave a substantial bill.
The Special Assessment Level Freeze
Louisiana lets qualifying homeowners freeze the assessed value of a homesteaded property, so future reassessments cannot push the value up. The freeze is available to:
- Homeowners aged 65 or older
- Veterans with a 50% or greater service-connected disability
- Individuals permanently and totally disabled, as certified by a court or government agency
- Surviving spouses of military members killed in action, missing in action, or held as prisoners of war for more than 90 days
Adjusted gross income must be $100,000 or less, with annual inflation adjustments beginning in 2026.6Louisiana State Legislature. HB 300 Engrossed – 2025 Regular Session A proposed constitutional amendment on the November 2026 ballot would raise that limit to $150,000. The freeze locks in the assessed value at the level it was when you first qualified; it does not lower your assessment or eliminate your bill.
Nonprofit Property
Property owned by nonprofit corporations organized exclusively for religious, charitable, educational, health, welfare, or fraternal purposes is exempt, provided no net earnings benefit private individuals and the organization holds a federal or state income tax exemption. The exemption falls away if the property is used for commercial purposes unrelated to the exempt mission.7Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Constitution Article VII Section 21 – Other Property Exemptions
Business Personal Property
Louisiana taxes business personal property, not just real estate. Inventory, machinery, equipment, furniture, fixtures, and certain watercraft and aircraft are all subject to ad valorem taxation at 15% of fair market value. Owners relocating from states that don’t tax business personal property are often caught off guard.
Business owners file self-reporting LAT forms with the parish assessor by April 1 each year. LAT 5 covers general commercial assets like inventory and equipment, LAT 12 covers oil and gas properties, LAT 15 covers aircraft, and other forms cover other categories. Not filing does not avoid the tax; the assessor will estimate the value, and the estimate rarely favors the owner.
When Taxes Are Due and What Happens if You’re Late
Parish tax collectors mail bills in December, after the Louisiana Tax Commission certifies the tax roll around November 15. Payment is due by December 31.3Louisiana House of Representatives. Louisiana Property Tax Basics Most parishes accept payment by mail, in person, or online.
Miss the deadline and interest starts accruing at 1% per month on a noncompounding basis.8Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 47-2153 – Notice of Delinquency That is 12% a year, and it adds up on a large bill. If taxes stay unpaid, the parish will eventually auction a lien against the property.
Starting January 1, 2026, Louisiana replaced its traditional tax sale system with a tax lien auction. The winning bidder pays the delinquent taxes and receives a certificate that accrues interest at a rate set during the auction. To terminate the lien, the owner pays the delinquent taxes, a 5% penalty, 1% monthly interest accrued before the auction, the auction purchase amount with interest at the auction rate, and costs for notices and recording fees (capped at $500 for certain post-auction notice costs).9Justia. Louisiana Code RS 47-2243 – Redemption Payments
For tax sales conducted before January 1, 2026, the older redemption rules still apply. Owners generally had three years from the recording of the tax sale deed to redeem by paying all delinquent taxes plus a 5% penalty and 1% monthly simple interest. Under either system, moving quickly keeps costs down; delay lets interest and fees stack, and eventually the lien holder can pursue full ownership.
Reassessment Every Four Years and the Roll-Forward Trap
Louisiana law requires all taxable property to be reappraised at least every four years.10Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 61 Section V-121 – Reappraisal Between those reassessment years, your assessed value generally holds steady unless you make significant improvements or the property changes hands.
Reassessment by itself does not raise taxes. When values rise across a parish, millage rates must roll back so taxing authorities collect the same total revenue as the prior year. If values fall, millage rates roll up. That mechanism keeps reassessment revenue-neutral by default.
The surprise, when it comes, is the roll-forward. A taxing authority that wants to collect more revenue after a reassessment can vote to keep the millage rate higher than the rollback level, but only with a two-thirds vote of its governing body and after a public hearing with at least 30 days’ advance notice published in the official parish journal.11Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Setting Millage Rates When a bill jumps after reassessment, a roll-forward vote is usually the reason.
How to Challenge Your Assessment
If your property’s assessed value looks too high, Louisiana gives you a structured path to challenge it. The windows are short and the deadlines are firm, so pay attention to the calendar.
Review the Assessment Rolls
Each year, parish assessors open their assessment lists for public inspection for 15 calendar days, beginning no earlier than August 15 and ending no later than September 15 in most parishes.12Justia. Louisiana Code RS 47-1992 – Inspection of Assessment Lists Orleans Parish runs on a different schedule, from July 15 through August 15.13Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 61 Section V-3101 – Public Exposure of Assessments This is the window to verify your value and file a complaint with the assessor.
Appeal to the Board of Review
The parish police jury or council sits as the Board of Review. After the inspection period closes and the assessor certifies the rolls, the Board convenes hearings within 10 days. It can raise or lower any assessment based on recognized appraisal techniques.13Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 61 Section V-3101 – Public Exposure of Assessments Bring evidence: a recent independent appraisal, comparable sales, or documentation of conditions that reduce value. Vague objections without support rarely move the number.
Appeal to the Louisiana Tax Commission
If the Board rules against you, the next stop is the Louisiana Tax Commission, which holds public hearings after receiving the certified assessment lists.14Justia. Louisiana Code RS 47-1989 – Review of Appeals by Tax Commission The Commission can adjust assessments and issue binding decisions. This is the final administrative level.
District Court or the Board of Tax Appeals
A taxpayer who disagrees with the Commission’s final decision can file suit in district court within 30 days, either in the district where the property sits or in East Baton Rouge Parish, where the Commission is based. The Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals is also an option.15Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 47-1998 – Judicial Review Generally At this stage the court will expect trial-quality evidence, so a property tax attorney or an independent appraiser is worth considering.