Key figures
Louisiana receivables
2026, with sources
SaaS became taxable in 2025
Louisiana used to be one of the easier states for a software company: SaaS was largely outside the sales tax. The November 2024 special session changed that. From January 1, 2025, Louisiana taxes digital products and related services — SaaS, digital audio and video, e-books, apps and digital codes — at the state level, and parish collectors aligned their local tax with the same date. The Department’s guidance is “Sales and Use Tax on Digital Products and Related Services”, on its Policies page.
The same reform raised the state rate from 4.45% to 5% for January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2029. Local rates come on top, so combined rates in many parishes are near 10%.
What the digital-products tax reaches, and what it exempts
The Department’s guidance treats as taxable prewritten software access — vendor-hosted tools such as productivity suites, CRM, meeting, storage and e-signature services — and “information services”: electronic data retrieval and research, compiled financial or market data, mailing and lead lists, and subscription databases. Maintenance and updates delivered electronically can be taxable; separately stated help-desk answers and troubleshooting are not. Custom software no longer has its old exemption.
There is a use-based exemption: software, software access, information services and digital products used exclusively for commercial purposes and directly in producing goods or services for sale to customers can be exempt, with narrower exemptions for FDIC-insured institutions’ core banking and licensed health care providers. A SaaS seller that does not collect from such a customer needs the customer’s exemption documentation. Digital products are sourced to the purchaser’s location, or, if that is unknown, to where the product is first transmitted from.
Two systems: the Commission and the parishes
Louisiana is the clearest example of locally administered sales tax in the US. Each parish has its own collector and its own local tax, separate from the Department of Revenue. Sellers with a physical presence register with LDR for the state tax and with each parish where they make sales. LDR’s free Parish E-File system takes state returns and the local returns of every parish except Cameron in one place; state-only returns can still go through LaTAP. In-state dealers’ returns are due the 20th of the month after the period.
Remote sellers have a single door: the Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers. A company whose only connection is economic nexus — gross revenue over $100,000 from sales delivered into Louisiana in the current or previous calendar year — registers with the Commission and files one monthly return, due the 20th of the following month, collecting the actual state and local rate for each delivery address. Vendor’s compensation is allowed only when both the return and the payment are on time.
An example
A Delaware SaaS company in Austin bills $140,000 a year to Louisiana customers and has no one in the state. It crossed the $100,000 threshold, so it registers with the Commission, charges 5% plus the local rate for each customer’s address, and files one return. If it later hires a salesperson in Shreveport, it has physical presence: it now registers with LDR and with Caddo Parish as a regular dealer. Credits left on customer accounts that are never used become unclaimed property, reported to the Treasury by November 1.
Deadlines
- Monthly — 20th of the month after each calendar monthRemote Sellers Tax Return to the Commission, state and local
- 20th of the month after the periodState sales tax return to LDR (in-state dealers)
The federal baseline
This page covers what Louisiana adds. The federal rules underneath it apply here too.
Common questions
Do I charge Louisiana sales tax on SaaS?
Since January 1, 2025, yes. The 2024 reform extended the sales tax to digital products and related services, including SaaS, and parishes followed at the local level. A SaaS company with Louisiana nexus charges the 5% state rate plus the local rate for the customer’s location. Contracts and price lists written before 2025 often assume no Louisiana tax.
Do I have to register with every parish?
Louisiana has more than 60 parishes, and each collects its own local sales tax. A remote seller avoids that: it registers once with the Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers and files one return covering state and local tax. A company with a physical presence — an office or an employee — is a regular dealer and deals with LDR and the parish collectors.
Does the 200-transaction test still apply in Louisiana?
Only dollars count. Louisiana dropped its 200-transaction test on August 1, 2023 (Act 15 of 2023), so a remote seller is a dealer once its gross revenue from sales delivered into Louisiana exceeds $100,000 in the current or previous calendar year. Since July 1, 2025 (Act 433 of 2025), the statute counts goods, digital products and services toward that figure.
Receivables next door
- TXTexas receivablesTexas taxes SaaS as a data processing service on 80% of the charge, at 6.25% plus up to 2% local. Remote sellers register at $500,000 of Texas revenue.
- ARArkansas receivablesArkansas nexus is $100,000 or 200 taxable transactions. It taxes digital goods but generally not SaaS, at 6.5% state plus city and county tax.
- MSMississippi receivablesMississippi charges 7% plus some local taxes, requires remote sellers to register above $250,000 in 12 months, and since July 2023 does not tax software hosted outside the state and accessed over the internet.
Founder guides on this
- Sales taxSales tax nexus for startups: when you owe tax in a stateSince Wayfair, selling into a state can create a sales tax obligation. How economic nexus works, why SaaS is taxable in some states and when to register.
- RevenueDeferred revenue for SaaS startups, explainedAn annual prepayment is cash today and revenue over a year. How deferred revenue works under ASC 606, why it’s a liability, and the schedule behind it.
- StripeHow to reconcile Stripe payouts to your booksA Stripe payout is charges less fees, refunds and disputes, batched across days. How to book it gross, tie it to the bank, and keep revenue right.
More of the Louisiana guide
- AccountingAccounting and state tax in LouisianaCorporate tax, conformity to federal rules, apportionment and what it does to your books
- PayablesPayables and contractors in LouisianaPaying vendors and contractors: 1099 filing, use tax, contractor tests and withholding
- PayrollPayroll taxes and employer rules in LouisianaWithholding, unemployment insurance, paid leave, minimum wage and the rules on paydays
- ComplianceCompliance and filings in LouisianaRegistering to do business, annual reports, franchise tax and the filing calendar
- AdvisoryAdvisory: credits and decisions in LouisianaCredits, incentives and the decisions that are cheaper to get right the first time
Sources
Checked against each agency’s own page on . Rates and thresholds change, usually on January 1.
- Louisiana Department of Revenue — 2024–2025 Tax Reform
- Louisiana Legislature — SB 162 (2025), Act 433, remote dealer definition
- Louisiana Department of Revenue — Policies (Sales and Use Tax on Digital Products and Related Services)
- Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers — FAQ
- Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers
General information for US companies, not tax, legal or accounting advice for yours. Rules and thresholds change; confirm the specifics with a CPA or the agency before you act on them.