The Shreveport sales tax is 9.60% across most of the city, which sits in Caddo Parish, and 10.25% in the smaller eastern portion that crosses into Bossier Parish.1Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators. Caddo Parish2Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators. Bossier Parish Both rates include Louisiana’s 5% state tax, which rose from 4.45% under the state’s 2025 tax reform.3Louisiana Department of Revenue. What Is the State Sales Tax Rate Which rate applies to a specific sale depends on the parish where the transaction or delivery takes place.
Rate Breakdown by Parish
Shreveport sits on the Caddo–Bossier line, and each parish layers its own local taxes on top of the state’s 5%.
Caddo Parish Portion
Most of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, where the combined rate is 9.60%:1Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators. Caddo Parish
- State of Louisiana: 5.00%
- City of Shreveport: 2.75%
- Caddo Parish (school board and law enforcement): 1.85%
The local 4.60% funds Shreveport’s municipal services, Caddo Parish schools, and parish law enforcement.4Shreveport, LA. Sales and Use Tax
Bossier Parish Portion
The strip of Shreveport that extends into Bossier Parish carries a combined rate of 10.25%, made up of the 5.00% state rate and 5.25% in local taxes.2Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators. Bossier Parish Businesses operating on this side of the line need to check their exact address, because a location a block away may fall under the Caddo rate instead.
What Is Taxed
Sales tax applies to the sale or lease of tangible personal property, meaning physical goods such as clothing, appliances, furniture, electronics, and vehicles. Items shipped to a Shreveport address after an online purchase are taxable at the delivery location.
Louisiana’s 2025 reform widened the range of taxable services, and Shreveport’s local rate stacks on top of the state tax for each of them:5Louisiana Department of Revenue. How Many Services Are Subject to Sales Tax in Louisiana
- Short-term lodging (stays under 30 consecutive days)6Justia. Louisiana Code 33-4710.15
- Admissions to amusement parks, concerts, athletic events, and theaters
- Repairs and maintenance on tangible personal property and digital products
- Laundry, cleaning, pressing, dyeing, and alterations
- Printing and copying services
- Parking fees
- Cold storage space
- Telecommunications services
- Prewritten software access services
- Information services
Digital products also became taxable statewide as part of the 2025 reform.7Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission. Announcements Digital downloads, streaming subscriptions, and software access sold to Shreveport customers now carry sales tax.
Key Exemptions
Groceries
Food for home preparation is exempt from the 5% state sales tax. Fresh produce, dairy, baked goods, and packaged foods that require preparation all qualify. Shreveport’s local taxes may still apply, so a grocery receipt in the city usually shows some tax rather than none. Prepared meals, restaurant food, and items consumed on-premises do not qualify.
Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices
Prescription medications are exempt from both state and local sales tax. Prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses, orthotic and prosthetic devices, and wheelchairs prescribed for personal use are also exempt.8Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47-305.2 Under the 2025 reform, businesses must now report prescription drug and medical device sales separately on their returns rather than combining them with food sales.7Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission. Announcements
Manufacturing
Manufacturers can claim exemptions on machinery and equipment used directly in the manufacturing process at a fixed Louisiana location. Consumable supplies used during manufacturing, such as lubricants and belts, are also exempt for qualifying manufacturers, as are repairs and maintenance on manufacturing equipment.9Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47-305.5
Nonprofits and Government
Some 501(c)(3) nonprofits qualify for limited sales tax relief. Nonprofit literacy organizations are exempt on purchases of tangible personal property, and qualifying homeless shelters and retreat facilities receive exclusions on room rentals. State and local government agencies purchasing supplies for public purposes are generally exempt. Sellers should keep an exemption certificate on file for every tax-free sale.
Remote Sellers Shipping Into Shreveport
A storefront isn’t required to owe Louisiana sales tax. Out-of-state sellers must register and collect if, in the current or prior calendar year, they had more than $100,000 in gross revenue from Louisiana sales or completed 200 or more separate transactions delivered into the state.10Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission. Frequently Asked Questions Crossing either threshold triggers collection on every Louisiana delivery, Shreveport included.
Marketplace facilitators such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy have the same collection duty. If you sell through one of those platforms, confirm the correct Louisiana rate is being applied on your behalf; if you sell through your own website, the registration and collection sit with you. The Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers handles registration for out-of-state businesses. One change worth flagging: vendor’s compensation was repealed for remote sellers under the 2025 reform, so only in-state dealers still keep that small collection allowance.7Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission. Announcements
Registering a Shreveport Business
A business collecting sales tax needs two registrations before its first taxable sale: one with the state and one with the parish collector.
At the state level, any dealer making retail sales in Louisiana must apply for a sales tax certificate through the Louisiana Department of Revenue.11Louisiana Department of Revenue. General Sales and Use Tax You’ll need your federal Employer Identification Number, the legal name of the entity, your NAICS code, and the physical business address.
Local registration depends on which parish the business sits in:
- Caddo Parish: register with the Caddo-Shreveport Sales and Use Tax Commission. Registration is free and required by law for any business making retail sales, performing taxable services, or leasing property in the parish.12Shreveport, LA. Sales and Use Tax – Registration
- Bossier Parish: register with the Bossier Parish Sales and Use Tax Division, the central collector for all Bossier Parish jurisdictions.13Bossier City. Tax Division
Operating without both registrations exposes the business to back taxes, penalties, and interest calculated from the date collection should have begun.
Filing and Paying
Starting in 2026, Louisiana rolled out a Combined State and Local Sales Tax Return through the Parish E-File system. Instead of filing separate state and local returns, each business location reports all sales and purchase activity on a single uniform return, and the system routes the state and local portions to the correct authorities.14Parish E-File. Parish E-File
Most businesses file monthly, with returns due on the 20th of the month following the taxable period.15Louisiana Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax March sales, for example, are due by April 20. Filing frequency has to match for state and local accounts at each business location under the combined system.
In-state dealers who file and pay on time keep a small vendor’s compensation deduction. The effective rate is 0.84% of the tax due, calculated as 1.05% applied to the portion of taxes levied under certain sections of the revenue code (not all of the 5% state rate qualifies).16Louisiana Department of Revenue. Vendor Compensation Deduction Rate On $10,000 in state tax collected, that’s an $84 deduction, and it disappears entirely if the return is late.
Late Filing Penalties and Interest
A late return draws a penalty of 5% of the tax due for the first 30 days it’s delinquent, with another 5% for each additional 30-day period or fraction of one, capped at 25% total.17Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47-1602 A return three months late already owes 15% on top of the tax balance.
Interest runs separately. Unpaid tax accrues interest from the statutory due date until the balance is paid, at three percentage points above a base rate set in state law, capped at 1.25% per month.18Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47-1601 Penalty and interest compound quickly, so a small cash-flow gap becomes an expensive problem within a few months.
Use Tax for Individual Buyers
Sales tax isn’t only a business concern. If you buy something from an out-of-state retailer that doesn’t charge Louisiana tax, you owe a consumer use tax directly to the state on any item that would have been taxable if bought locally.19Louisiana Department of Revenue. Consumer Use Tax It comes up most often with online purchases from smaller sellers that don’t meet Louisiana’s economic nexus thresholds.
The consumer use tax is paid directly to the Louisiana Department of Revenue. It is legally enforceable, and the state has increasingly focused on compliance as online shopping has grown. Setting aside the applicable percentage from each out-of-state purchase is the simplest way to stay current.