With kids heading back to school in the coming weeks, parents and teachers are flocking to stores to buy supplies and prepare for the coming year. While other states are gearing up to fight the crowds for tax-free weekend, Louisiana does not have one.
Why doesn’t Louisiana participate in tax-free weekend?
In 2018 legislators were scrambling to balance the state budget and accidentally forgot to include the three state sales tax holidays including the one leading up to back to school.
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For seven years Louisiana would miss out on the tax-free holidays that were expected to cost the state about 45.2 million in 2018.
According to Rep. Jack McFarland, it took two weeks before anyone realized the mistake that was made.
Sales tax has been a slippery slope for Louisiana for some time as its been climbing to the top of the national list for the highest combined sales tax rate according to the Tax Foundation.
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The nonprofit’s 2022 midyear report showed that of the 38 states where local and state sales taxes are collected, Louisiana’s 9.55% puts it as the highest in the country. The 5.1% sales tax rate is what pushes Louisiana’s average to the top of the combined list.
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According to Tax Foundation policy analyst Janelle Fritts, sales taxes are generally less economically harmful than income or corporate taxes, but can still become burdensome at high rates.
“In cities near state borders, high sales taxes can cause some people to shift their purchases – at least the big ones – across state lines,” Fritts said. “Broadening the sales tax base to include services in order to bring down rates would be a difficult battle in Louisiana, but would do a lot of good for residents.”
Fritts goes on to explain that Louisiana’s sales tax landscape is “very complex” due to a lack of uniformity and no central administration meaning 64 parishes have their own individual paperwork and collection requirements.
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What that means for Louisiana is for the next three years, residents will have to pay high sales taxes on school supplies needed while other states catch a break. For those in Northwest Louisiana, the option to travel a couple of hours north to ArkLaTex may be tempting to be able to join in on the tax-free weekend.
In Texas, Tax-Free Weekend runs from Friday, Aug. 5, to Sunday, Aug. 7. In Arkansas, Tax-Free Weekend runs from Saturday, Aug. 6 to Sunday, Aug. 7.
Sales tax holidays are set to resume on July 1, 2025.
Meredith G. White is the arts and culture reporter for the Shreveport Times. You can find her on Facebook as Meredith G. White, on Instagram and Twitter as @meredithgwhite, and email her at [email protected].
Source: https://t-tees.com
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