Louisiana has a flat 3.00 percent individual income tax rate. Louisiana has a flat 5.50 percent corporate income tax rate, a 5.00 percent state sales tax rate, and an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 10.11 percent—the highest in the nation. Louisiana has a 0.55 percent effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing value. Louisiana does not have an estate tax or inheritance tax. Louisiana’s gas tax is 20.93 cents per gallon, and its cigarette excise tax is $1.08 per pack of 20 cigarettes.
Louisiana raises tax revenue primarily through general sales taxes (40.2 percent of total state and local tax revenue), other taxes (19.3 percent), and property taxes (18.5 percent). Louisiana collects $5,863 in state and local tax collections per capita, carries $6,304 in state and local debt per capita, and has an 82 percent funded ratio of public pension plans. Louisiana’s tax system ranks 31st overall on the 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index.
Each state’s tax code is a multifaceted system with many moving parts, and Louisiana is no exception. Use the tabs below to compare Louisiana taxes with other states and to see how Louisiana raises tax revenue. You can also browse our tax maps, which are compiled from our annual publication, Facts & Figures 2026: How Does Your State Compare?
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The State Tax Competitiveness Index enables policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much state governments collect in taxes, the Index evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.
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Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
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Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections. How do income taxes compare in your state?
9 min read
Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for nearly a quarter of combined state and local tax collections.
18 min read
Forty-four states levy a corporate income tax, with top rates ranging from a 2 percent flat rate in North Carolina to an 11.5 percent top marginal rate in New Jersey. Four states—Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania—reduced their corporate income tax rates effective January 1, 2026.
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Property taxes are the primary tool for financing local governments. While no taxpayers in high-tax jurisdictions will be celebrating their yearly payments, property taxes are largely rooted in the benefit principle of taxation: the people paying the property tax bills are most often the ones benefiting from the services.
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Thirteen states have notable tax changes taking effect on July 1, 2021, which is the first day of fiscal year (FY) 2022 for every state except Alabama, Michigan, New York, and Texas. Individual and corporate income tax changes usually take effect at the beginning of the calendar year for the sake of maintaining policy consistency throughout the tax year, but sales and excise tax changes often correspond with the beginning of a fiscal year.
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With many state legislative sessions wrapping up for this year, and a new fiscal year about to begin, it’s a good time to examine some of the 2021 legislative trends—and sports betting taxes are among the more prominent.
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It took until the last day of the session, but Louisiana lawmakers succeeded in passing a tax reform package Thursday that would simplify a complicated tax code and make the state more economically competitive.
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Krispy Kreme may have started the vaccine incentive ball rolling, but many states are putting big money into the effort with vaccine lotteries. Unlike a normal lottery, no one is paying for tickets—but the tax collector still gets paid when someone wins.
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Although most states are on solid financial footing following the coronavirus crisis, pension liabilities are a deep-seated problem that long predates the pandemic.
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State taxation of GILTI is unconventional and economically uncompetitive and will become even more so if the federal government adopts a more aggressive approach to taxing GILTI, as outlined in the American Jobs Plan Act.
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A landmark comparison of corporate tax costs in all 50 states, Location Matters provides a comprehensive calculation of real-world tax burdens, going beyond headline rates to demonstrate how tax codes impact businesses and offering policymakers a road map to improvement.
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While many of the tax proposals work in tandem, some conflicts continue to exist. If lawmakers were able to repeal federal deductibility, reduce income tax rates, finish the job on inventory taxation, and phase out the capital stock tax, this would represent a marked improvement in the state’s tax climate, eliminating several of the most uncompetitive features of the current code.
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With so many federal changes occurring in such a short amount of time—including some federal provisions changing more than once and a major change to the treatment of UC income occurring in the middle of tax filing season—state legislators have faced the challenge of responding to these changes quickly in order to provide certainty to taxpayers.
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New Yorkers faced the highest burden, with 14.1 percent of income in the state going to state and local taxes. Connecticut (12.8 percent) and Hawaii (12.7 percent) followed.
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