How does Louisiana’s tax code compare? Louisiana has a graduated state individual income tax, with rates ranging from 1.85 percent to 4.25 percent. Louisiana has a graduated corporate income tax, with rates ranging from 3.5 percent to 7.5 percent. Louisiana also has a 4.45 percent state sales tax rate and an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 9.56 percent. Louisiana has a 0.51 percent effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing value.
Louisiana does not have an estate tax or inheritance tax. Louisiana has a 20.93 cents per gallon gas tax rate and a $1.08 cigarette excise tax rate. The State of Louisiana collects $4,856 in state and local tax collections per capita. Louisiana has $6,637 in state and local debt per capita and has a 74 percent funded ratio of public pension plans. Louisiana’s tax system ranks 40th overall on the 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index.
Each state’s tax code is a multifaceted system with many moving parts, and Louisiana is no exception. The first step towards understanding Louisiana’s tax code is knowing the basics. How does Louisiana collect tax revenue? Click the tabs below to learn more! You can also explore our state tax maps, which are compiled from our annual publication, Facts & Figures 2024: 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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Graduated corporate rates are inequitable—that is, the size of a corporation bears no necessary relation to the income levels of the owners.
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Does your state have a small business exemption for machinery and equipment?
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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?
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In 2021 and 2022 alone, more states enacted laws converting graduated-rate individual income tax structures into single-rate income tax structures than did so in the whole 108-year history of state income taxation up until that point.
10 min read
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