Louisiana is unusual: the state and each local government collect their own sales tax, with their own exemptions. The Commission that collects for out-of-state sellers describes it as a system where "state and local governments each collect their own sales tax", so the total you pay depends on where the sale happens.
This guide sets out the state rate and its 2025 increase, what the Department of Revenue says is taxable and exempt, how local taxes fit in and where to look up a rate, and the use tax on out-of-state purchases, including a point where the Department's own pages disagree. Everything comes from the Louisiana Department of Revenue and the Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers, read on 2 November 2026.
Revenue Information Bulletin 25-007 states that, pursuant to Act 11 of the 2024 Third Extraordinary Session, beginning on 1 January 2025 the Louisiana state sales tax rate is 5%. The Department's rate table shows the general sales tax rate moving from 4.45% on 31 December 2024 to 5% on 1 January 2025. The bulletin says the revised rate applies to the sale and use of tangible personal property, certain services and digital products.
The Department's 2024 legislative summary says the 0.45% levy is retained and an additional 0.55% is levied from 1 January 2025, and that the legislation "provides for a reduction beginning January 1, 2030." The statute is more specific: R.S. 47:321.1 levies the additional 0.55% "through December 31, 2029", and from 1 January 2030 levies a single 0.75% tax in place of the 0.45% and 0.55% layers. The other state levies are 2% (R.S. 47:302(A)), 1% (R.S. 47:321) and 1% (R.S. 47:331), so our sum of the statutory levies is 4.75% from 2030 (2 + 1 + 1 + 0.75). The Department has not published that total in the sources we read, so treat 4.75% as our arithmetic and check the Department before relying on it.
| Our illustration, state tax only | At 4.45% (to 31 Dec 2024) | At 5% (from 1 Jan 2025) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100 taxable purchase | $4.45 | $5.00 | $0.55 |
| $1,000 taxable purchase | $44.50 | $50.00 | $5.50 |
This is our arithmetic on the two state rates and ignores local taxes, which are added to the state tax. The bulletin adds that the additional 0.55% does not apply to certain sales of materials and services in certain construction contracts under R.S. 47:305.11.
The Department of Revenue collects the state tax; parishes, cities and special districts set and collect local taxes, so a single combined rate does not exist for the state. The Commission's rate listing is posted by jurisdiction, and its listing effective 1 July 2025 carries the state at 5%. We do not print a table of local rates here because they change and vary by address, down to special districts inside a parish.
The Department's summary says the legislation maintains the state sales tax exclusions for food for home consumption, residential utilities and prescription drugs. The table shows how the Department describes some everyday items. State treatment is shown; local taxes may still apply, because the Department says "Local sales taxes may still apply" to food.
| Item | State sales tax (per the Department) |
|---|---|
| Restaurant, food truck and concession-stand meals | Taxable (prepared food for immediate consumption) |
| Sales by snack bars, candy and nut counters, private clubs and similar establishments | Taxable |
| Food for home consumption (groceries) | Excluded from state tax; local tax may apply |
| Raw meat or raw seafood sold by an establishment that also sells prepared food | Exempt |
| Prescription drugs | Excluded from state tax |
| Diapers and feminine hygiene products | Fully exempt since 2025 (no longer optional) |
| Digital products | Taxable for periods from 1 January 2025 |
| Hotel rooms, printing and copying, repairs and maintenance of tangible personal property | Among the taxable services the Department lists |
Delivery charges matter: the Department says that if any portion of a sale is taxable, the entire transportation or shipping charge is taxable. Its example is an invoice with $50 of food for home consumption, $50 of taxable goods and a $10 delivery fee, where the whole $10 fee is taxable. The Department lists more taxable services than we show, so check its FAQ for anything not in the table.
If you buy from a seller that does not charge Louisiana sales tax, you may owe consumer use tax. The Department says individuals are responsible for use tax on an out-of-state purchase when the item is subject to Louisiana sales tax and the seller did not collect it, under R.S. 47:302(K). Food for home consumption and prescriptions are not subject to it, and the Department says there is no minimum purchase amount.
The rate: the Department's pages do not agree. Check the Department before you pay.
| Department page | Use tax rate stated |
|---|---|
| Consumer use tax FAQ: "What is the consumer use tax rate?" | 9.45% for purchases on or after 1 January 2025, applied instead of your actual local rate |
| Tax Reform FAQ rate table (23 Sep 2025), row for Direct Marketers | 8.45% (31 Dec 2024), then 9% (1 Jan 2025) |
| Consumer use tax page (updated 26 February 2025) | 8.45% |
The FAQ and the page both say a flat combined rate applies in place of the actual local rate. The statute helps decide between them: R.S. 47:302(K) levies an additional 4% on use of property, paid in lieu of local taxes, on top of the state levies. With the state rate at 5%, that is 5% + 4% = 9%, which matches the Department's rate table. The FAQ's own breakdown ("5% percent to the state and 4 percent to local jurisdictions") also adds to 9%, not 9.45%. The 8.45% figure on the consumer use tax page equals the old 4.45% state rate plus the 4% local layer, so it predates the 2025 increase. On this evidence 9% looks like the correct combined rate, but the Department has not corrected its FAQ or page, so confirm the figure with the Department before paying.
How and when to pay: you can report and pay annually with your Louisiana individual income tax return, by that return's due date for the year after the purchase, or file Form R-1035 monthly, due the 20th of the month after the purchase.