Louisiana State Tax Rulings
Free plain-English summaries of state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued in Louisiana, with full citations and the original source on every page.
No Louisiana rulings match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Did Louisiana's tax exemption for DROP account benefits continue after the money was transferred into an IRA?
No. Money paid from a qualifying DROP account was exempt from Louisiana income tax under La. R.S. 11:405 because it was a Chapter 1 retirement benefit. After transfer to an IRA, later IRA payments wer…
How did Louisiana's former film investor credit treat demand-note investments, the 25% base credit, 10% resident-payroll bonus, later allocations, transfers, and carryforward?
A qualifying demand note counted at original principal if fully and promptly drawable; otherwise it counted at fair value. Certified investment earned a 25% credit plus 10% for qualifying Louisiana-re…
Was piano tuning a taxable repair service under Louisiana sales and use tax law?
Yes. Tuning restored the piano to proper pitch, temperament, and intended sound, so it was a taxable repair rather than a mere enhancement. No part had to be replaced. The tuner collected tax on the f…
How did Louisiana treat property and sales connected with a Louisiana foreign trade zone in the corporation income- and franchise-tax ratios?
Income tax treated all corporeal movable property physically in the zone as outside Louisiana; franchise tax did so only for property imported from outside the United States. Sales delivered into the …
How does Louisiana's Motion Picture Investor Tax Credit work — who can earn it, can it be transferred and sold, and how is it applied to a tax bill?
It answers common questions about the film Investor Tax Credit under La. R.S. 47:6007: any investor that is not itself a production company (even a tax-exempt one) can earn it, the credit is freely tr…
Did Louisiana grant military and support personnel the same individual income-tax deadline relief that the IRS granted for combat-zone service?
Yes. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2001, qualifying federal combat-zone relief also extended Louisiana filing, payment, collection, and assessment deadlines.
Did Louisiana's maritime sales-tax exemption cover fuel, supplies, repairs, and services for drilling ships or barges working in Louisiana waters?
No. Although the statute was expanded to include barges and drilling ships, purchases for mineral exploration, drilling, or production in Louisiana waters did not qualify because the vessels were not …
Were per-procedure patent and technology license fees required to operate an eye-surgery machine subject to Louisiana sales tax?
Yes. The patented technology was inseparable from the surgical machine's intended use, so separately charged license fees were taxable as part of the amount paid for the equipment rights.
How did Louisiana tax temporary portable-toilet rentals, cleaning and sanitation, and separately stated delivery and pickup charges?
The portable-toilet transaction was a taxable rental. Cleaning and sanitation were included in the taxable base even when separately stated, while separately stated delivery and pickup charges were ex…
When was furnishing a trash dumpster part of a nontaxable waste-removal service, and when was it a taxable equipment rental?
Regular trash-removal arrangements were nontaxable when the dumpster merely facilitated the service, even with separate invoice lines. A separately priced daily, weekly, or monthly right to possess a …
Did Louisiana preserve corporate charitable contributions that federal law converted into a net operating loss carryover?
No. Louisiana used its own net operating loss rules and recognized the charitable deduction only when taken on the federal return, so the portion converted to a federal NOL carryover was lost for Loui…
Was durable medical imaging equipment taxable when the sales contract transferred title and risk before the vendor installed it in a Louisiana hospital?
Yes. Title and risk passed while the equipment was still movable property, so sales or use tax applied before installation. The lump-sum contract made the entire amount taxable.
How did Louisiana apply the corporate franchise-tax rule that reclassified 50% of excess related-party debt when the corporation's capital account was negative?
Louisiana transferred half the excess related-party debt into capital stock, surplus, and undivided profits, but capped the transfer so related-party debt could not fall below zero.
How did Louisiana treat tax shelters that the IRS listed as abusive, and what penalties did the Department say it would impose?
Louisiana also treated IRS-listed abusive tax shelters as abusive for state income-tax purposes and said it would impose false-or-fraudulent-return and negligence penalties, plus any other applicable …
How did Louisiana limit an acquired loss corporation's net operating loss carryover after a corporate ownership change?
Louisiana applied IRC § 382 using the acquired corporation's Louisiana value. Taxpayers could choose among three state-allocation methods, or petition for another method that more accurately reflected…
Was an optional, separately stated collision damage waiver charge taxable as part of a Louisiana vehicle rental?
Yes. The waiver arose only from the rental and modified the renter's damage obligation, so its charge was part of taxable rental gross proceeds even though it was optional and separately itemized.
Who qualified as a farmer for Louisiana individual estimated-tax purposes, and did farming income from pass-through entities count?
An individual qualified when estimated farming gross income was at least two-thirds of total estimated gross income. The calculation included the person's share of farming income from S corporations, …
Were special Hurricane Katrina distributions from Louisiana public-system Deferred Retirement Option Plan accounts taxable by Louisiana?
No. Although qualifying Katrina DROP distributions were included in federal adjusted gross income, La. R.S. 11:405 kept the covered public-retirement benefits exempt from Louisiana income tax.
Did a Louisiana resident merchant seaman owe Louisiana income tax and estimated payments even though federal law barred state withholding from the wages?
Yes. The no-withholding rule did not exempt a Louisiana resident's wages from state income tax. Under the 2006 thresholds, estimated payments were required if expected Louisiana liability exceeded $1,…
How did Louisiana allocate the former IRC § 199 domestic production activities deduction among affiliated corporations and Louisiana income classes?
Louisiana used the federal allocation to each affiliated-group member, then divided that member's deduction among allocable, apportionable, and untaxed income based on QPAI. No deduction was allowed f…
Was a lump-sum payment equal to remaining rent taxable when Hurricane Katrina destroyed the leased equipment and triggered an indemnity obligation?
The indemnity portion was not taxable because no property remained to sell, lease, or possess. Any part attributable to rental periods before the destruction remained subject to Louisiana sales or ren…
Was transferring motor vehicles to a newly formed Louisiana LLC taxable when the transferor received membership interests and the LLC paid the vehicles' debt?
Yes. The membership interest and payment of pre-existing vehicle debt were consideration for a retail sale. Louisiana's occasional-sale exclusion did not apply to motor vehicles, even if the transfer …
Did operating a charter boat for paying recreational anglers qualify as commercial fishing for Louisiana's vessel sales-tax exemption?
No. Charter operators sold boat access and guiding expertise for recreational fishing, not fish harvested for wholesale or retail sale, so charter activity did not qualify as commercial fishing.
Could a city downtown development authority sell Louisiana historic rehabilitation tax credits it earned even though it owed no state income or franchise tax?
Yes. The authority could sell the credits because a narrow taxpayer-only reading would defeat the rehabilitation incentive for public and nonprofit entities that validly earned credits but could not u…
Did a Texas LLC become subject to Louisiana corporation franchise tax merely because it elected federal and Louisiana corporation-income-tax treatment?
No. The check-the-box election controlled corporation income-tax treatment but not franchise-tax classification. The LLC remained treated as a limited partnership for franchise tax and therefore was n…
Could a Texas LLC surviving a merger with a corporation inherit that corporation's Louisiana net-operating-loss carryforward?
Yes. Because the LLC elected corporate tax treatment and succeeded by law to the corporation's assets, liabilities, and operations, it inherited the Louisiana NOL carryforward subject to the same fede…
Could a Louisiana part-year resident claim a credit for income tax paid to another state, and which return did the ruling require?
Yes, by electing to file the full-year Louisiana resident return and reporting all income. The 2005 ruling did not allow the other-state tax credit on the nonresident and part-year resident form.
When could Louisiana food retailers buy resale food without advance sales tax, and which prepared-food, bottled-water, packaging, and vending purchases remained taxable?
Food expected to be sold exempt for home consumption could be bought without advance tax, generally using Form R-1006. Prepared-food ingredients, bottled water, separately sold packaging, and vending-…
Who had to collect Louisiana advance tax and retail tax when a wholesaler drop-shipped goods directly to a retailer's Louisiana customer?
When both businesses were Louisiana dealers, the wholesaler collected advance tax and the retailer collected final tax. An out-of-state nondealer retailer shifted use-tax payment to the consumer, but …
When did Louisiana treat reciprocal transfers of raw materials or products as exchanges excluded from the corporation income- and franchise-tax revenue ratios?
A routine mutual agreement exchanging interchangeable property to reduce costs qualified when quantity and value balanced. The exchange was excluded from both revenue ratios; cash used only to settle …
How did Louisiana's historical food-for-home-consumption relief distinguish qualifying groceries from taxable prepared food, restaurant sales, and institutional purchases?
Qualifying nonprepared food sold for home consumption received the historical reduced rate or exemption. Seller-heated or seller-combined food, food sold with utensils, restaurant sales, and known non…
Did truck trips conducted entirely within another state count toward Louisiana's 80% interstate-commerce threshold for the heavy-truck sales-tax exemption?
No. A trip beginning and ending in the same other state, with the goods at rest there and no state-line crossing, was intrastate mileage and could not count toward the exemption's 80% interstate-use t…
How did Louisiana treat capitalized lease assets in the corporation franchise-tax and income-tax property factors?
Franchise tax treated a genuine lease as a rental, excluding the asset from the lessee's property factor. Income tax followed federal ownership: include the asset when the lessee was federally treated…
Did filing a late Louisiana tax return extend the separate deadline for the taxpayer to claim a refund or credit?
No. The rule extending the Department's assessment and collection period for an unfiled return did not extend the taxpayer's refund deadline. A refund claim still had to satisfy La. R.S. 47:1623.
Were electronic discovery collection, preparation, hosted review, metadata, production tracking, downloads, and tangible deliverables taxable in Louisiana?
No. The overall transaction was a nontaxable technical or professional service, not a sale, fabrication, rental, or enumerated taxable service, even when results were delivered on paper or media. The …
How did repealed Louisiana Revenue Ruling 05-001 distinguish repairs to movable property from repairs to immovable property?
Historically, movable-property repairs were taxed on the full charge. Immovable-property repair service was not taxed; depending on title and invoicing, parts were either sold to the customer as movab…
Was a natural-gas compression contract a taxable equipment rental, and how were separate delivery, installation, monitoring, and service charges treated?
The compressor charge was a taxable rental because the customer detained the autonomous unit at its chosen location and benefited from its use. Separately stated delivery and installation were not tax…
Which dental products qualified for Louisiana's exemption for orthotic, prosthetic, restorative, and patient-used dental devices?
An item qualified either as a listed orthotic, prosthetic, prosthesis, or restorative material used or prescribed by a dentist, or as a one-patient dental device directly used or administered for trea…
Which tax periods did Louisiana's 2001 expansion of the unfiled-return prescription rule reach?
The amendments applied to taxes due in 1998 and later, including still-open pre-2001 periods, but not taxes due in or before 1997 that had already prescribed. The Department treated the change as proc…
Was a lessee's lump-sum reimbursement of the lessor's property tax on leased equipment subject to Louisiana sales tax?
Yes. Because the lease required the reimbursement, it was part of the gross proceeds and total price agreed to be paid for the equipment rental, just like periodic rent.
Was an oil and gas corporation commercially domiciled outside Louisiana even though it maintained a Louisiana administrative and operations office?
Yes. Looking at actual commercial practices as a whole, the corporation was directed and managed from its out-of-state headquarters, where strategic deals, executive approvals, governance, finance, ba…
Which equipment, software, labor, shipping, installation, and training charges formed the Louisiana use-tax cost price of a communications system?
Equipment, canned software, and required design, engineering, safety, management, and tuning labor were taxable. Separately invoiced shipping and installation and optional training were excluded. Prop…
Could an offshore producer deduct 25 cents per barrel for owned pipelines carrying pipeline-quality oil from central processing points to off-lease terminals?
Yes, for oil moved through the two owned 10-inch transportation lines after gathering and treatment. No deduction applied to gathering lines moving crude from wells to the central points where it beca…
Which truck movements counted as interstate commerce for Louisiana's 80% heavy-truck sales-tax exemption?
Continuous shipments to, from, or through Louisiana counted even during necessary intermodal delays. Interstate movement ended when goods came to rest as inventory; trips wholly inside Louisiana did n…
Was a certified Louisiana health maintenance organization exempt from corporation income and franchise taxes because it paid the annual HMO license tax instead?
Yes. The organization met the HMO definition, held the Insurance Commissioner's certificate, earned most revenue from member health services, and paid the annual premiums tax. The annual license tax a…
Which Louisiana hotel no-show, forfeited-deposit, early-checkout, and group-cancellation charges were taxable as furnishing sleeping rooms?
Guaranteed-room no-show charges were taxable because the room was held for the guest. Early-checkout and true cancellation damages were generally not taxable when the hotel could rent the room to some…
Was an amended Louisiana individual income-tax return a “final return” for calculating refund interest?
No. An amended return was a claim for refund, not the tax year's final return. Refund interest on an amount claimed by amended return was computed under La. R.S. 47:1624 rather than La. R.S. 47:115.
How did a Louisiana individual obtain relief when using IRC § 1341's federal tax-credit method for repaying more than $3,000 of previously reported income?
The taxpayer could deduct the repayment on Louisiana Schedule E in the same year the federal § 1341 credit was taken. The federal deduction method needed no special Louisiana adjustment.
How did Louisiana's 2004 ruling tax software maintenance agreements containing consultation, bug fixes, upgrades, updates, enhancements, canned software, or custom software?
Consultation-only support was not taxable, while updates, modifications, and enhancements were treated as software sales. Bundles were taxed at the highest rate unless lower-tax items were separately …
Who owed and collected Louisiana advance, sales, or use tax when catalog incentive merchandise moved through a distributor and end client to a Louisiana participant?
Dealer status and nexus controlled. Louisiana distributors generally paid advance tax and collected final tax; nondealer distributors could document their status, leaving the Louisiana end client liab…
Did Louisiana's state-tax exemption for LASERS retirement benefits extend to distributions from new DROP self-directed sub-accounts managed by a third-party provider?
Yes. The accounts remained within DROP and the LASERS trust, and the provider acted as LASERS's agent under Title 11. Their distributions were benefits paid under Chapter 1 of Title 11 and were exempt…
Could an LLC buy, resell, and facilitate multiple transfers of Louisiana motion picture investor tax credits, and how could transferees use or lose them?
Yes, subject to the 2003 statutory transfer limits and expiration rules. Transferees could use credits regardless of residence and against qualifying current or prior-year income tax, but not penaltie…
Did an out-of-state-chartered bank paying Louisiana bank shares tax qualify for the same corporation income- and franchise-tax exemptions as Louisiana banks?
Yes. The Department interpreted the exemptions to cover every bank paying the bank shares tax, avoiding unconstitutional discrimination after interstate branch banking became legal. The bank could cla…
What historical time-and-payment test did superseded Revenue Ruling 03-007 use for long-term hotel occupancy?
The withdrawn ruling treated monthly-paying guests remaining at least two consecutive months as permanent and generally excluded charges beginning in month three, with a contract exception for the fir…
How did Louisiana treat a corporate owner's single-member LLC that had not elected federal corporate tax status?
Louisiana followed federal treatment: the LLC was a disregarded division of its corporate owner, and its assets, liabilities, income, deductions, and credits belonged on the owner's return. Nexus of e…
Did an orthopedic surgeon recruited from an out-of-state residency qualify for Louisiana's former Small Town Doctor's Credit?
Yes. The doctor relocated from outside the hospital's service area, practiced within 20 miles of a qualifying community hospital, was more than 20 miles from a city over 30,000, held an unrestricted L…
Was a carpet seller-installer making taxable retail sales, or acting as a contractor selling immovable property, when customers took title before installation?
The customers took title before installation, so the taxpayer sold tangible personal property and collected sales tax on carpet and padding. Separately stated optional installation was not taxable, an…
Did hospital-owned medical linear accelerators, accessories, and replacement parts qualify for Louisiana's medical-device sales-tax exemption?
No. Although prescribed, supervised, and used to treat disease, the durable equipment repeatedly served many patients. The exemption required a device used exclusively by, or administered exclusively …
Was federal gasoline excise tax passed through in the consumer price included in Louisiana corporation income- and franchise-tax sales ratios?
Yes. The federal tax was imposed on the producer, not collected from the customer on the government's behalf. Passing that cost through—even as an itemized amount—was sales revenue included in both ra…
Could a registered low-speed vehicle originally powered by alternative fuel qualify for Louisiana's clean-burning motor-vehicle fuel property credit?
Yes. The 2003 law treated a registered low-speed vehicle as a motor vehicle. The credit was 20% of qualifying fuel-system component cost or, if that basis was not determined, 2% of vehicle cost capped…
Browse Louisiana rulings by topic
These are official tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued by Louisiana's revenue authority in response to questions from specific taxpayers about how the tax law applies to their facts. A ruling is binding on the department only for the taxpayer who requested it and cannot be relied on by anyone else, but it is strong evidence of how the state reads the law. Every ruling above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original source.