What Items Are Exempt from Sales Tax in Louisiana?

The items exempt from sales tax in Louisiana fall into a short list after the state’s 2024 overhaul: groceries bought for home consumption, prescription drugs, prescribed medical devices, agricultural inputs and equipment used in commercial farming, manufacturing machinery and equipment, and certain sales held at qualifying nonprofit fundraising events. A handful of other transactions, like casual sales of personal property between individuals, fall outside the tax entirely. Many exemptions that existed before 2025, including the annual sales tax holiday, were repealed.¹

Groceries for Home Consumption

Food you buy to prepare and eat at home is exempt from Louisiana state sales tax. The exemption covers staples like bread, milk, fruits, vegetables, and bakery items purchased at grocery stores or bakeries.² It was deliberately preserved through the 2024 reforms.

Prepared food is not exempt. Meals sold at restaurants, drive-ins, and snack bars are taxable, and the same goes for ready-to-eat items like hot bar entrees or deli trays sold inside a grocery store.² Purchases made with SNAP benefits are tax-free at both the state and local level under federal law, regardless of whether the item would otherwise be taxable.

Prescription Drugs

Prescription medications are exempt, and this is another exemption the Legislature explicitly preserved in the 2024 overhaul.³ To qualify, the drug must be prescribed by a licensed healthcare provider and dispensed by a registered pharmacist. The exemption extends to chemotherapy drugs and prescription medications administered under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.⁴

Over-the-counter medications are taxable. If a product can be bought without a prescription, sales tax applies, which catches people off guard when a drug they have been taking moves from prescription-only to OTC availability.

Prescribed Medical Devices

Certain medical devices prescribed by a healthcare professional are exempt. The exemption covers orthotic devices (including prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses), prosthetic devices, wheelchairs, and lifts, when prescribed for personal use by a physician, optometrist, or licensed chiropractor.⁵

The dividing line is medical necessity. Durable equipment that serves a long-term treatment or corrective purpose generally qualifies. Cosmetic or elective items that are not medically necessary stay taxable. If you are unsure, look at whether the item was prescribed and whether it treats or corrects a condition.

Agricultural Inputs and Equipment

Louisiana consolidates its agricultural exemptions under RS 47:305.3, which covers agricultural inputs, machinery, equipment, and other farm-related tangible property used directly in commercial farming.⁶ Qualifying inputs include feed, seed, and fertilizer used to produce crops or animals for market.

The purchase has to tie directly to commercial farming activity. A rancher buying feed for cattle raised for sale qualifies. Someone buying the same feed for a pet does not. The 2024 reforms pulled scattered farming provisions into one statute, which simplifies compliance without substantially changing who qualifies.

Manufacturing Machinery and Equipment

Machinery and equipment used directly in manufacturing tangible goods for sale are exempt. The 2024 reforms consolidated these provisions into RS 47:305.5 and expanded coverage to include computers and software that control or communicate with systems managing heating or cooling for manufacturing equipment.⁷

To claim it, a business has to show that the machinery is integral to its production process, not just incidental to its operations. Repair parts and services for qualifying machinery also fall within the exemption, which keeps ongoing maintenance tax-free.

Nonprofit Fundraising Sales

Louisiana’s nonprofit exemption under RS 47:305.14 is narrower than most people assume. It does not exempt purchases made by nonprofits. It exempts sales of tangible property, admission charges, gate admissions, and parking fees at fundraising events sponsored by a qualifying nonprofit, provided all proceeds (after necessary event expenses) go toward the organization’s charitable, educational, religious, or historical restoration purposes.⁸

A church buying office supplies still pays sales tax. Regular commercial activities run by a nonprofit, like a bookstore or a restaurant competing with retail merchants, also fall outside the exemption. Events designed to yield a profit for an outside promoter who shares in gross proceeds do not qualify, and organizations that endorse political candidates or engage in political activity are excluded.⁸

Organizations claiming the exemption must file Form R-1048 with the Louisiana Department of Revenue at least 30 days before the first qualifying event.⁹

Casual and Occasional Sales

Louisiana excludes casual or occasional sales from sales tax, which matters most for individuals selling used personal property. The exclusion generally covers:

Six or fewer separate retail sales of taxable items within a 12-month period by someone not in the business of retail sales.
The sale of all operating assets of a business, or a separate division of one.
An individual’s sale of items originally purchased for personal or family use.
Sales by someone who is not required to register as a dealer.

Cleaning out a garage and selling furniture or electronics generally fits here, and you do not collect tax on those sales. Make selling a regular activity, though, even informally, and you can cross into dealer territory and lose the exclusion.

What Changed in 2024

In November 2024, the Legislature passed Act 11 (House Bill 10) during the Third Extraordinary Session. The law repealed dozens of exemptions and exclusions, expanded the sales tax base to cover digital products like streaming services and prewritten software, and added a separate 5% surcharge on telecommunications services like cable and satellite.³ The annual sales tax holiday, formerly at RS 47:305.54, is gone.¹

The overhaul also aligned the state and local sales tax bases so that most exemptions now apply uniformly, with limited exceptions for food, prescription drugs, medical devices, manufacturing machinery and equipment, and business utilities.³ If you relied on an exemption before 2025 and haven’t checked it since, verify it is still on the books before filing.

Keeping the Exemption at Audit

An exemption on paper means nothing if you cannot document it. The Louisiana Department of Revenue audits businesses to confirm that claimed exemptions meet statutory requirements, and missing paperwork turns an exempt sale into a taxable one, with back taxes, interest, and penalties attached.

Businesses making exempt purchases should keep a completed exemption certificate for every qualifying transaction. For resale purchases, the Multistate Tax Commission’s Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate is accepted in Louisiana and can serve as a blanket certificate for recurring purchases from the same seller.¹⁰ The certificate requires your state registration number, a description of the property, and your business type. If you buy something tax-free for resale and then use it yourself, you owe use tax on that item.

Agricultural and manufacturing exemptions require records showing the items are used directly in qualifying production activities. Nonprofits claiming the fundraising exemption have to file Form R-1048 on time and keep records showing proceeds went to qualifying purposes.⁹ Hold onto certificates, invoices, and supporting records for at least six to seven years, since audit windows can reach well past the most recent filing period.

1
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Chart of Repealed Sales and Use Tax Exclusions and Exemptions
2
Louisiana State Legislature. RS 47:305 – Exemptions From the Tax
3
Louisiana Department of Revenue. 2024 Third Extraordinary Session Legislative Summaries
4
Louisiana State Legislature. RS 47:337.9 – Exemptions Applicable to Local Tax in Chapters 2, 2-A, and 2-B
5
Louisiana Legislature. HB 10 2024 Third Extraordinary Session – Section: Medical Devices, Equipment, and Other Drugs
6
Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:305.3 – Exemptions; Agricultural
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Louisiana Department of Revenue. Are There Changes to the Manufacturing, Machinery and Equipment Exemptions
8
Louisiana State Legislature. RS 47:305.14 – Exemptions; Nonprofit Organizations
9
Louisiana Department of Revenue. R-1048 Annual Application for Exemption From Collection of Louisiana Sales Taxes at Certain Fundraising Activities
10
Multistate Tax Commission. Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate – Multijurisdiction