Louisiana Car Sales Tax Calculator

5% is only the state's share. Every parish, and many cities inside a parish, add their own rate - often 4% to 6% more - so the real number you pay at OMV is a combined rate, commonly 9.5% to 11% depending where you live and where the sale is sourced.

At a dealership, yes - tax applies to the price minus your trade-in allowance. A $20,000 purchase with a $6,000 trade-in is taxed on $14,000. Private-party sales don't get a trade-in mechanism because there's only one vehicle in the transaction.

Yes. Louisiana specifically does not extend its 'isolated or occasional sale' exemption to motor vehicles the way it does for some other property (and even for boats, in limited cases). Buy from a neighbor, a co-worker, or a stranger off Facebook Marketplace, and you owe the same combined state-plus-parish rate on the price paid, collected when you title the car at OMV.

Don't structure it as a $1 'sale' - Louisiana taxes the real value transferred either way. Instead, use a notarized Act of Donation. As long as you're not assuming a loan balance on the vehicle, Louisiana sales and use tax simply doesn't apply. It works for gifts to anyone, not just family - see our dedicated gifting guide.

You get a credit against Louisiana's 5% state tax for sales tax you already paid in your old state (assuming that state offers Louisiana residents the same courtesy). After the credit, what's left owed to the state is capped at $90, provided you register within 90 days of establishing residency and the vehicle was already titled or leased in your name elsewhere. Parish tax still applies on top.

A penalty of 5% of the tax owed applies for each 30-day period you're delinquent, capping out at 25%, plus interest. The clock starts 40 days after an in-state sale (30 days for out-of-state purchases and new residents), so budget to title the car well before that window closes.