Louisiana’s statewide sales tax rate is 5.00%, but that’s just the starting point. Louisiana has one of the most layered local tax structures in the country, with parishes, cities, and special districts able to levy their own rates on top of the state base. Combined rates across the state range from 5.00%–12.00% or more.

Below, we’ll discuss how the Louisiana sales tax rates work, how to calculate the combined rate for any Louisiana address, and what triggers a sales tax obligation for businesses selling into the state.

Highlights

• Louisiana’s combined sales tax rate varies widely by location, since parishes, cities, and special districts each set their own rates on top of the state base.

• Businesses selling into Louisiana owe sales tax once they cross the state’s economic nexus threshold, even without a physical presence.

• Local jurisdictions in Louisiana collect their own sales tax separately from the state, which means compliance can involve filing with multiple authorities.

What is the Louisiana sales tax rate?

Louisiana’s statewide sales tax rate is 5.00%. That base applies to most tangible personal property and a range of taxable services sold within the state, but it’s only part of what you’ll collect at the register.

Louisiana is one of the most complex sales tax states in the country, and also has the highest average sales tax in the US when you combine state and local rates. Local jurisdictions, such as parishes, cities, and special districts, layer their own rates on top of the state base, and those rates vary. The combined rate a customer pays depends entirely on where the transaction takes place.

How does Louisiana’s sales tax rate work?

Louisiana’s local sales tax structure is unusually fragmented. Unlike states where counties set a single add-on percentage, Louisiana has 64 parishes, each with its own rate, plus hundreds of municipalities and special taxing districts that can levy their own taxes independently. Exemptions vary: some parishes exempt items that the state taxes, and vice versa. You can’t assume a state-level exemption carries through to every local jurisdiction.

Parish rates alone range from 5.00%–6.00%, and city or municipal rates stack on top of those. Special districts (e.g., school boards, fire districts, transportation authorities) add further layers in many areas. The result is a combined rate that can swing dramatically from one zip code to the next, sometimes within the same city.

It’s common for a single address to sit within three or four overlapping taxing jurisdictions simultaneously. Businesses with nexus in Louisiana might need to file with both the state and individual parishes. The Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers handles some collection for remote sellers. This simplifies filing somewhat by tackling state and some local tax collection, but this doesn’t eliminate local obligations entirely.

What are the local sales tax rates in Louisiana?

Louisiana customers typically pay somewhere between 9.70% and 12.00% in combined sales tax. A few areas with minimal local levies fall toward the lower end, while dense urban areas with multiple overlapping districts push toward the top.

Here’s the combined rates that businesses charge customers:

What are Louisiana’s sales tax rates by city?

Combined rates vary markedly across Louisiana’s cities, since each sits within a parish and potentially within additional taxing districts.

The rates below reflect the minimum combined (state and local) rate for each city, but the actual amount can be higher, depending on the specific location.

What are Louisiana’s sales tax rates by county (parish)?

Louisiana doesn’t have counties. It has parishes, which function as the equivalent.
Each parish sets its own local sales tax rate and, in many cases, different district taxes (e.g., local cities, school boards, hospitals) are layered on top of parish-wide rates. The rates below show the minimum combined local rate at the parish level, before any city taxes apply.

What creates a sales tax obligation in Louisiana?

Before you collect a cent of sales tax, you need to have nexus in Louisiana: a sufficient connection to the state that creates a legal obligation to register, collect, and remit. Louisiana recognizes two types: physical nexus and economic nexus. If you have a location, warehouse, employees, or inventory in Louisiana, you have physical nexus. If your business exceeds $100,000 in sales into Louisiana in a calendar year, you have economic nexus, regardless of whether you have any physical presence in the state. Either is enough to create an obligation.

Once nexus exists, you must register with the Louisiana Department of Revenue before you start collecting. Both the acts of collecting without registering or failing to collect once a nexus is established create liability.

Here are a few other Louisiana nexus considerations:

• Click-through nexus: If a Louisiana-based website or individual refers customers to your business in exchange for a commission, that relationship can create nexus.

• Marketplace facilitators: If you sell through a marketplace such as Etsy or eBay, the marketplace is responsible for collecting and remitting Louisiana sales tax on your behalf, but you should confirm the marketplace is actually doing this before assuming you’re covered.

• Affiliate nexus: Contractual relationships with Louisiana-based affiliates who solicit sales on your behalf can also establish nexus.

How do you calculate Louisiana’s sales tax rate?

To calculate sales tax, simply multiply the taxable sale amount by the combined sales tax rate for the location where the transaction occurs. The difficult part is knowing which rate applies.
Louisiana requires you to add the state rate to whatever local rates apply at the point of sale. Those local rates can include a parish rate, city rate, and additional district levies, all stacked together. Getting that wrong means either undercharging or overcharging customers, both of which create problems.

A sales tax calculator eliminates the guesswork. Stripe’s sales tax calculator lets you look up the combined rate for any Louisiana address, so you’re working from the right number before you quote a price or process a transaction.

How Stripe Tax can help

Stripe Tax reduces the complexity of tax compliance so you can focus on growing your business. Stripe Tax helps you monitor your obligations and alerts you when you exceed a sales tax registration threshold based on your Stripe transactions. In addition, it automatically calculates and collects sales tax, VAT, and GST on both physical and digital goods and services—in all US states and in more than 100 countries.

Start collecting taxes globally by adding a single line of code to your existing integration, clicking a button in the Dashboard, or using our powerful API.

Stripe Tax can help you:

• Understand where to register and collect taxes: See where you need to collect taxes based on your Stripe transactions. After you register, switch on tax collection in a new state or country in seconds. You can start collecting taxes by adding one line of code to your existing Stripe integration or add tax collection with the click of a button in the Stripe Dashboard.

• Register to pay tax: Let Stripe manage your global tax registrations and benefit from a simplified process that prefills application details—saving you time and simplifying compliance with local regulations.

• Automatically collect tax: Stripe Tax calculates and collects the right amount of tax owed, no matter what or where you sell. It supports hundreds of products and services and is up-to-date on tax rules and rate changes.

• Simplify filing: Stripe Tax seamlessly integrates with filing partners, so your global filings are accurate and timely. Let our partners manage your filings so you can focus on growing your business.

Learn more about Stripe Tax, or get started today.