Every month, many Louisiana businesses must file sales tax returns with multiple parish collectors — each with its own forms, rules, and payment systems.
No other state with a comparable sales tax system operates this way.
Louisiana has made real progress on tax reform over the past two years, and the business community has taken notice. But one major piece of unfinished business remains — a structural problem that continues to put Louisiana businesses at a competitive disadvantage.
Representative Josh Carlson has introduced legislation to get it done. HB 620, a constitutional amendment, is scheduled to be heard by the House Ways & Means Committee on Monday, March 30, and One Acadiana is asking Acadiana’s business community to take two minutes to make its voice heard before that hearing.
The Unfinished Business: Louisiana Still Ranks Last on Sales Taxes
Louisiana’s 2024 tax reform special session produced real results. The state jumped six spots in the Tax Foundation’s State Tax Competitiveness Index, moving to 31st overall — a meaningful improvement driven by flatter income tax rates, full expensing for business investment, and the elimination of the franchise tax. That momentum is exactly what Louisiana’s economic development community has worked toward for years.
But the Tax Foundation’s 2026 index also tells a cautionary tale. Even after all that progress, Louisiana still ranks 50th in the nation on sales taxes — dead last.
The primary culprit is the same problem it has always been: Louisiana remains one of the only states in the country without a centralized system for collecting and administering sales and use taxes.
While virtually every other state runs sales tax collection through a single, state-level system, Louisiana businesses must navigate a patchwork of parish-by-parish collectors, each with its own forms, rules, and sometimes its own interpretation of state tax law.
For a business with a single location, that system may be a manageable nuisance. But for companies operating across multiple parishes, the system creates a recurring compliance burden that costs real time and real money every single month.
The Wayfair Problem: A System That Favors the Competition
The inequity became even sharper after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 Wayfair decision, which allowed states to require online and out-of-state retailers to collect and remit sales taxes even without a physical presence.
Here’s the irony.
Those out-of-state online retailers — Amazon, Wayfair, and other national competitors — now remit Louisiana sales taxes through a single, streamlined process via the state’s Remote Sellers Commission.
Meanwhile, Louisiana’s own brick-and-mortar businesses are still stuck navigating the old parish-by-parish system.
The businesses that built this community — the ones that employ our neighbors and invest locally — are navigating a more complicated compliance process than their national competitors.
That is not a level playing field, and it is a direct drag on Louisiana’s economic competitiveness.
What HB 620 Would Do
HB 620 is a constitutional amendment that would authorize the Legislature to establish a centralized collection system for all state and local sales and use taxes. A constitutional change is necessary because the Louisiana Constitution currently grants local governments the authority to collect their own taxes. If passed by two-thirds of both chambers, HB 620 would go before Louisiana voters in the November statewide election. If voters approve the amendment, the Legislature would also need to enact the statutory framework to put centralized collection into practice.
Importantly, this reform does not redirect a single dollar of local tax revenue. Under this proposal, local tax revenues remain the property of the local taxing authority. A centralized collector gathers the taxes and distributes them to the appropriate local governments.
Local audit authority is also preserved.
The change is in how taxes are collected — not how much local governments receive.
A Long Road: Why This Reform Matters More Than Ever
The push for centralized collection has been underway for years.
After the Wayfair decision highlighted Louisiana’s structural disadvantage, lawmakers began advancing legislation to modernize the system. In 2021, both the House and Senate unanimously voted to place a constitutional amendment before voters that would have created a centralized sales tax commission.
That proposal — Amendment 1 on the November 2021 ballot — narrowly failed, 52% to 48%, in a low-turnout election after some local officials raised concerns about local control.
The defeat was a setback, but it was not the end of the story.
The Legislature created the Louisiana Uniform Local Sales Tax Board, and in early 2026 the state rolled out a Combined State and Local Sales Tax Return intended to simplify compliance.
That combined return is a step in the right direction. But its rollout also illustrated why more complete reform is still needed.
The system launch was delayed from its original January 2026 target date, and early users reported enough system errors that tax practitioners were advising clients to file early to avoid potential late penalties. The state ultimately extended the initial filing deadline.
Even now, the system still has significant limitations. Seven parishes do not permit use of the combined return portal, EDI import files had to be rebuilt, and — critically — payments must still be remitted separately to each individual taxing authority.
In other words, Louisiana now has a combined filing form with separate parish payments.
That is meaningful progress, but it is still only a halfway measure.
Passing HB 620 is the critical first step toward that full solution.
As the Tax Foundation noted in its 2026 assessment:
“Louisiana is highly unusual in lacking central collections and administration of its sales tax. The state has made progress with an alternative remote sellers regime, but parishes’ and other jurisdictions’ ability to define their own tax bases and to administer the taxes separately from the state imposes high compliance costs.”
The Next Step in Louisiana’s Tax Reform Momentum
Louisiana’s tax reform story over the past two years has been one of sustained effort to move the state into the competitive mainstream.
Income tax reform, franchise tax elimination, and full expensing for business investment are real wins that have caught the attention of site selectors and business leaders evaluating states for investment.
But a state that ranks 31st overall and 50th in sales taxes is still sending a mixed message.
Centralizing sales tax collection would remove one of Louisiana’s most persistent outliers. It would bring the state in line with how almost every other state administers sales taxes and eliminate a structural compliance burden that Louisiana businesses face every month.
The House Ways & Means Committee hearing on March 30 is the first real test of whether this session can deliver what previous sessions could not.
What We’re Asking You to Do
Committee members need to hear from Acadiana’s business community before that hearing.
We’ve made it easy.
► Watch “2 Minutes That Matter” with LABI for a quick breakdown of why this reform matters for Louisiana businesses.
► Click here to send your pre-drafted email to legislators.
It takes about two minutes, and you can personalize it before sending.
Louisiana’s tax reform momentum is real.
Centralized sales tax collection is the next step.
Let’s make sure Acadiana’s voice is heard at the Capitol.