Louisiana Paycheck & Income Tax Calculator

How Louisiana income tax works

Louisiana is now one of the simplest states in the country to work out. A flat 3% applies to all taxable income, for every filing status, with no brackets to step through.

Before the rate is applied you subtract one figure. Louisiana does not run a personal exemption and a standard deduction as separate lines; the 2024 reform merged them into a single combined personal exemption-standard deduction, which for 2026 is $12,875 for a single filer or married filing separately, and $25,750 for married filing jointly, a qualifying surviving spouse or head of household.

So a single filer on $75,000 is taxed on $62,125 and owes $1,863.75 for the year — an effective state rate of about 2.5%, one of the lightest in the South among states that tax income at all.

There is no local income tax anywhere in Louisiana and no employee-side payroll levy, so these figures need nothing added. What your payslip shows will be slightly higher, and the next section explains why.

What the 2024 reform changed

Louisiana’s income tax looks nothing like it did two years ago, which is why older guidance for this state is worth ignoring entirely.

The state ran a three-band graduated schedule that topped out at 4.25%, alongside a standard deduction of just $4,500. In the 2024 Third Extraordinary Session, House Bill 10 repealed the brackets and set a flat 3% for taxable periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025.

The deduction change was arguably the bigger one. It went from $4,500 to $12,500 for a single filer — nearly a tripling — with the joint figure fixed at exactly double the single amount. For someone on a modest wage that shift alone is worth more than the rate cut: $8,000 of newly sheltered income at 3% is $240 a year, every year.

The same package doubled the retirement income exemption for people aged 65 and over, from $6,000 to $12,000, and set both figures to move with inflation.

Anything quoting Louisiana at 1.85%, 4.25%, a graduated schedule, or a $4,500 deduction is describing 2024 or earlier.

Why your payslip shows 3.09% and not 3%

This is the Louisiana detail that trips people up, and it is not an error on anyone’s part.

The Department of Revenue’s own withholding tables — form R-1306, effective January 1, 2026 — compute withholding using a rate of 3.09%, not the 3% the state actually charges. The formula prints in the form itself:

W = ( S − (12,875 / N) ) × .0309

The reason is deliberate. Withholding at exactly the tax rate leaves no margin, so anyone with a little extra income, or a mid-year pay rise, ends up owing money on filing. Setting the rate 0.09 percentage points high builds in a cushion, and the excess is refundable.

The size of the gap is small but real. On $75,000, a single Louisianan has about $1,919.66 withheld across the year against a liability of $1,863.75 — an over-withholding of roughly $56, returned as a refund after filing.

The figures on this page are the liability, not the withholding. That is the right number for comparing states, judging an offer or working out what you actually owe. If you are reconciling against a payslip instead, expect the state line to run about 3% higher than shown here, and expect that difference back.

Take-home pay at every salary in Louisiana

After federal tax, the flat 3% state tax and FICA. With no local income tax and no state payroll levy, these figures hold anywhere in Louisiana — New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette and Lake Charles alike.

What lands in your account each payday

On $75,000 a year in Louisiana, filing single, split across the pay schedules employers actually use.

The deduction now moves every year

Buried in the 2024 reform is a provision that matters more over time than the headline rate.

The combined personal exemption-standard deduction is now adjusted annually for inflation, based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers, with the first adjustment taking effect on January 1, 2026. That is what lifted the single figure from $12,500 to $12,875 — a 3.0% rise — and the joint figure from $25,000 to $25,750.

Compare that with what happens in states that do not index. Virginia’s brackets have not moved since 1990, so its top rate now catches almost every full-time worker. North Carolina’s standard deduction is frozen in statute, quietly shrinking against wages every year. In both, inflation raises real tax without a vote ever being taken.

Louisiana has now put itself on the other side of that line, alongside Minnesota, which has indexed by law since 1979. The rate is flat and the shelter grows, so the effective rate on a wage that merely keeps pace with prices should stay roughly where it is rather than creeping upward.

The retirement income exemption is indexed on the same basis.

Dates that matter for the 2026 tax year

Louisiana does not use the federal deadline. Returns (Form IT-540) are due May 15, 2027 for the 2026 tax year, a month after the federal April 15.

Louisiana grants an automatic filing extension of six months, running to mid-November, but that covers filing only — tax owed is still due in May, and payments after the deadline attract penalties and interest. Estimated payments, if required, fall quarterly through the year.

Questions people ask

What is the Louisiana income tax rate for 2026?

A flat 3% on taxable income, for every filing status. The rate has applied to taxable periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025, when the former graduated brackets were repealed.

What can I deduct in Louisiana?

$12,875 for a single filer or married filing separately, and $25,750 for married filing jointly, a qualifying surviving spouse or head of household. Louisiana does not run separate exemption and deduction lines — this single combined personal exemption-standard deduction does the whole job.

Why does my payslip show more tax than this calculator?

Because Louisiana withholds at 3.09% while charging 3%. The Department of Revenue sets the withholding rate deliberately above the tax rate so that fewer people owe a balance when they file. On a $75,000 salary the difference is about $56 a year, and it comes back as a refund.

Is the Louisiana standard deduction adjusted for inflation?

Yes, from 2026. The 2024 reform provided for an annual adjustment based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers, with the first one taking effect on January 1, 2026 — which lifted the single figure from $12,500 to $12,875.

Does any Louisiana parish charge a local income tax?

No. No Louisiana parish or municipality levies an income tax, so where you live in the state does not change your income tax bill.

Does Louisiana tax retirement income?

Not all of it. The same 2024 reform doubled the annual retirement income exemption for people aged 65 and over from $6,000 to $12,000, and indexed it to inflation alongside the standard deduction. This calculator models wage income and does not apply it.

Are Louisiana payroll deductions taken from my paycheck?

Not by the state. Louisiana unemployment insurance is employer-funded and the state runs no disability or paid family leave program. Beyond the state income tax, the only deductions are federal.

When is the Louisiana tax return due?

May 15, not April 15. Louisiana sets its own deadline a month after the federal one, so the 2026 return is due May 15, 2027, for calendar-year filers.

Is my data sent anywhere?

No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. There is no account, and the salary you type is never sent to a server or stored. It never leaves your device.