Louisiana’s unique rules about what is taxable and its varying rates across jurisdictions can make sales tax compliance challenging. Unlike states with highly centralized collection systems, Louisiana operates on a complex, dual-level framework where the state government and individual local parishes manage taxes independently.

Due to the number of parishes in the state, your business must track every customer’s address to correctly collect and file a sales tax return. Sales tax software can make this much easier, since it streamlines the task of calculating the sales tax across jurisdictions. While the state baseline is 4.5%, taxes in some parishes can bring the combined sales tax rate to as high as 12.95%.

Completing a Louisiana sales tax return is a three-step process. Businesses must first understand how to collect sales tax in Louisiana, then prepare the return, and finally, file and remit sales tax. Following this process will help you prepare for and complete your return smoothly and accurately.

What’s in this article?

• How to collect sales tax in Louisiana
  
• How to prepare your Louisiana sales tax return
  
• Identify taxable sales transactions
  
• How to file and remit sales tax in Louisiana
  
• How Stripe Tax can help
  

How to collect sales tax in Louisiana

Before you start collecting sales tax, first determine if the products or services you’re selling are taxable, and ensure you’re registered to collect Louisiana sales tax. In Louisiana, you could register for multiple license types depending on your business activities: direct marketer, remote seller, or standard.

The next step is to determine how much sales tax to collect. Similar to counties or boroughs in other states, Louisiana is divided into what are called parishes. Louisiana is a destination-based sales tax state, meaning you should charge all customers located in Louisiana the sales tax rate where the item is being delivered. That could include a combination of state, county, city, parish, and district tax rates.

In Louisiana, businesses with standard license types are required to report, collect, and remit sales tax in each individual parish where they make sales—one of the reasons sales tax compliance can be challenging in the state. Remote seller license types report, collect, and remit sales tax on a single form. Direct marketer license types collect and remit a flat rate and no parish data is required.

The current sales tax system in Louisiana requires businesses to maintain sales tax reports, collect sales tax, and remit in each individual parish where they do business. There are 64 parishes in total, meaning a business could have to file in 64 different parishes in addition to filing state sales tax. However, remote sellers and direct marketer sellers only file one sales tax return.

How to prepare your Louisiana sales tax return

Before you start your return, it’s important to know your filing frequency. You will be assigned a filing frequency when you register for your sales tax permit. In Louisiana, you will be required to file and remit sales tax either monthly or quarterly.

Louisiana sales tax returns are always due the 20th of the month following the reporting period. If the filing due date falls on a weekend or holiday, sales tax is generally due the next business day.

To prepare your return, you will start by collecting the sales information for the tax period—this may be a month, a year, or a quarter. Filing a sales tax return generally requires the following sales transaction information:

• Gross sales
  
• Taxable sales by type
  
• Nontaxable sales by type
  
• Deductions such as shipping charges
  
• Total collected sales taxes
  

Identify taxable sales transactions

Businesses will need to know two things to complete their Louisiana sales tax return: how much they sold, both in total sales and in taxable sales, and to whom they sold.

If the amount of taxable sales does not reach economic nexus thresholds in Louisiana, then a sales tax return might not be required. The economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in gross sales per year.

In addition to meeting economic nexus thresholds, if a business has employees, an office, or a warehouse located in Louisiana and is selling taxable goods and/or services, the business must collect sales taxes on all taxable transactions, file returns, and pay the appropriate amount to the state. For remote or ecommerce sellers, shipping costs in Louisiana are generally taxable as well.

How to handle sales tax exemptions in Louisiana

In addition to the parish-by-parish system, another reason sales tax compliance in Louisiana is complicated is due to the large number of exemptions, exclusions, and sales tax credits in the state. It’s difficult for sellers to determine when they should charge sales tax on a product. The state has 192 total sales tax exemptions, exclusions and credits in place. The vast majority of tax-free transactions fall into a few primary commercial categories:

• Sales for resale (wholesale): Items purchased by a registered distributor or retailer intended exclusively for resale or to be manufactured into tangible products for resale are exempt from sales tax.
  
• Governmental and institutional sales: Direct sales or services performed for the US government, the State of Louisiana, or any local political subdivision and governmental agency are completely tax-exempt.
  
• Bona fide interstate commerce: Goods shipped or delivered directly to an out-of-state consumer via a common carrier are excluded from Louisiana sales tax, provided the delivery is documented by a valid bill of lading or shipping manifest.
  
• Essential consumer goods: At the state level, specific consumer necessities—such as prescription drugs, prescription medical devices, home utilities, and food intended for home consumption—are legally exempt.
  

A full list of exemptions can be found on the state website.

Additional considerations

Additionally, there are a few other requirements to consider when preparing your Louisiana sales tax return:

• Zero returns: Louisiana requires any business with a sales tax permit to file a sales tax return on your due date, even if you don’t have any sales tax to report or pay. If you fail to file, Louisiana will levy a late filing penalty even if you don’t owe any sales tax.
  
• Late returns: If a sales tax return is filed late, a delinquent penalty of 5% of the tax due for each 30 days, though not to exceed 25% of the net tax due, is imposed. Find more information on the state’s late filing policy on the state website.
  

For remote sellers or out-of-state SaaS businesses, monitoring electronic transaction volume is key. Louisiana expanded its sales tax base to include digital products, information services, and remotely accessed software in early 2025, which means SaaS and cloud-based downloads are taxable at the state and parish levels. Digital sales also count toward the $100,000 economic nexus threshold.

How to file and remit sales tax in Louisiana

How you will file in Louisiana depends on your license type. Below are the different ways to file and remit sales tax in Louisiana:

• Direct marketers: File using the Louisiana Taxpayer Access Point (LaTAP).
  
• Remote sellers: File using the Remote Sellers website.
  
• Standard: File using the Parish E-File website.
  

How Stripe Tax can help

Stripe Tax reduces the complexity of tax compliance so you can focus on growing your business. 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 helps you monitor your obligations and alerts you when you exceed a tax registration threshold based on your Stripe transactions. It can also register to collect tax on your behalf in the US, automate US filings in the dashboard, and manage global filings through trusted partners. Stripe Tax automatically calculates and collects sales tax, VAT, and GST on:

• Digital goods and services in all US states and over 100 countries
  
• Physical goods in all US states and 42 countries
  

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: If you need to register for a sales tax in the US, let Stripe manage your tax registrations. You’ll benefit from a simplified process that prefills application details—saving you time and simplifying compliance with local regulations. If you need help registering outside of the US, Stripe partners with Taxually to help you register with local tax authorities.

• 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 automates US filings in the Dashboard, powered by TaxJar. For global filings, 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.