Louisiana taxes individual income at a flat 3%, charges a 5% state sales tax, and sets property taxes locally through millage rates applied to an assessed value equal to 10% of a home’s fair market value. A sweeping 2024 reform replaced the state’s old graduated income brackets and raised the sales tax from 4.45% to 5%, so the current tax rate in Louisiana looks different than it did only a year or two ago. Local parishes and cities layer their own sales taxes on top of the state rate, which is why the total you pay at the register often lands between roughly 8.5% and 12%.
Individual Income Tax
Louisiana imposes a flat 3% tax on individual net income for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025. This replaced the former graduated system, which charged 1.85%, 3.5%, and 4.25% at different income levels. The flat rate now applies to every dollar of taxable income regardless of how much you earn.1Louisiana Department of Revenue. What Are the Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets
If you live in Louisiana and are required to file a federal return, you must also file a state return. Residents use Form IT-540; nonresidents who earn Louisiana-source income use Form IT-540B.2Louisiana Department of Revenue. IT-540 Individual Income Tax Return Instructions If you and your spouse have different residency statuses, you may file as either, whichever is more favorable.
Standard Deduction
The 2024 reform significantly raised the standard deduction and indexed it for inflation. For the 2026 tax year, the amounts are:
- Single or married filing separately: $12,875
- Married filing jointly, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse: $25,750
These figures come from the state’s 2026 withholding tables.3Louisiana Department of Revenue. Louisiana Withholding Tables and Formulas Effective on or After January 1, 2026 A married couple filing jointly pays no Louisiana income tax on their first $25,750 of income.
Filing Deadline
Louisiana’s individual income tax return is due May 15, not April 15. For the 2025 tax year, the deadline is Friday, May 15, 2026.4Louisiana Department of Revenue. Individual Income Tax Deadline 2026 An automatic extension is available for filing, but not for payment; anything paid after May 15 accrues penalties and interest.5Louisiana Department of Revenue. Louisiana State Income Tax Deadline Is May 15
Retirement Income
Social Security benefits and federal railroad retirement benefits are fully exempt from Louisiana income tax.6Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 47 RS 47:44.2 – Federal Social Security Benefits and Railroad Retirement Income Exempt From Taxation
If you are 65 or older, you can exclude up to $6,000 per year of other retirement income, including pensions, annuities, and distributions from retirement plans. Married couples filing jointly where both spouses are 65 or older can each claim $6,000, for a combined $12,000. If only one spouse receives retirement income, the household cap is $6,000.7Louisiana Department of Revenue. Retirement System Benefits That May Be Excluded From Louisiana Income Tax
State Sales and Use Tax
Louisiana’s state sales tax rate is 5%, effective January 1, 2025, replacing the former 4.45% rate. The 5% rate is scheduled to remain in effect through December 31, 2029.8Louisiana Department of Revenue. What Is the State Sales Tax Rate
The tax applies to most retail purchases of goods, leases and rentals of tangible property, and a broad list of services including hotel and lodging charges, parking fees, printing and copying, laundry and dry cleaning, repair work, and telecommunications.9Louisiana Department of Revenue. General Sales and Use Tax If you buy property outside the state and bring it into Louisiana for personal use, you owe use tax at the same 5% rate.
Food for home preparation and consumption is exempt from the state sales tax. That covers groceries like fresh produce, bakery items, and packaged foods you cook at home. Restaurant meals and other prepared, ready-to-eat items remain fully taxable.10Louisiana Department of Revenue. Is There Sales Tax on Food Prescription medications are also generally exempt.
Digital Products and Streaming
As of January 1, 2025, Louisiana’s sales tax reaches digital products and services. Streaming video and music subscriptions, downloaded software, and e-books are taxable. Monthly charges for services like Netflix or Spotify carry the 5% state rate plus any applicable local tax. Software-as-a-Service products such as Office 365, Zoom, and Salesforce are taxable too, whether billed per user, per license, or by subscription. Updates to digital products are taxable regardless of how they are delivered.11Louisiana Department of Revenue. Business Tax Tip 29 – Sales of Digital Products and Digital Code Guidance
What You Actually Pay at the Register
Parishes, municipalities, and school boards add their own sales taxes on top of the 5% state rate. The combined total depends on where the sale takes place. Orleans Parish, for example, adds 5% local tax to the 5% state rate for a combined 10% on most goods.12City of New Orleans. Orleans Parish Sales Tax Rate Across the state, combined rates typically fall somewhere between roughly 8.5% and over 12%, and Louisiana’s average combined state-and-local sales tax is among the highest in the country. Retailers collect the correct combined rate based on the delivery or pickup location.
Property Tax
Property tax in Louisiana is calculated using a millage system. One mill equals one dollar of tax per $1,000 of assessed value.13Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Setting Millage Rates Assessed value is not market value. Louisiana applies a fixed percentage to fair market value based on the type of property:
- Land: 10% of fair market value
- Residential improvements: 10% of fair market value
- Business inventory and other commercial property: 15% of fair market value
- Electric cooperative properties (excluding land): 15% of fair market value
- Public service properties (excluding land): 25% of fair market value
These ratios are set in the Louisiana Constitution, Article VII, Section 18.14Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Constitution Article VII Section 18 – Ad Valorem Taxes A home with a fair market value of $200,000 has an assessed value of $20,000. The millage rates applied to that assessed value are set by local voters and vary by parish, city, school district, and special district, so there is no single statewide property tax rate.
Homestead Exemption
If you own and occupy your home as your primary residence, the homestead exemption shields the first $7,500 of assessed value from state, parish, and special ad valorem taxes.15Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Constitution Article VII Section 20 – Homestead Exemption Because residential property is assessed at 10% of market value, that $7,500 figure effectively exempts the first $75,000 of market value for most purposes.
You apply for the exemption through your parish assessor. It covers the home itself, including a mobile home, even if you do not own the underlying land, though in that case only the home qualifies. If your home is damaged or destroyed in a governor-declared disaster, you can preserve the exemption by filing an annual affidavit of intent to return within five years.15Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Constitution Article VII Section 20 – Homestead Exemption
Senior Assessment Freeze
Louisiana’s Special Assessment Level freezes your home’s assessed value so it does not rise during reassessment years. You must already have the homestead exemption and meet one of these conditions:
- Age 65 or older with adjusted gross income (including your spouse’s) of $100,000 or less
- Disabled veteran with a service-connected disability rating of 50% or greater
- Permanently and totally disabled with income at or below the threshold
Starting in tax year 2026, the $100,000 income threshold is adjusted annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index. The freeze continues as long as you own and live in the home and your income stays within the limit.
Corporate Income and Franchise Tax
Corporations doing business in Louisiana pay a flat 5.5% income tax on net taxable income for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025. The old graduated corporate brackets were repealed.16Louisiana Department of Revenue. What Is the Corporation Income Tax Rate
The corporate franchise tax, a separate levy on corporate capital, is fully repealed for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026.17Louisiana Department of Revenue. Is the Corporation Franchise Tax Repealed S corporations filing a composite return for nonresident shareholders pay a reduced 3% on Louisiana-attributable income for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026.18Louisiana Department of Revenue. 2025 Corporation Income and 2026 Corporation Information Return Instructions
Excise Taxes
Louisiana charges a cigarette tax of $1.08 per pack of 20, assembled from several separate levies totaling about 5.4 cents per cigarette.19Louisiana State Legislature. RS 47:841 Imposition of Tax – Tobacco Tax The state gasoline tax runs roughly $0.21 per gallon when the base excise tax and inspection fees are combined, among the lowest fuel tax rates in the country. Alcoholic beverage taxes vary by type and proof, with separate rates for beer, wine, and spirits.