House Bill No. by Representative Carlson proposes a significant overhaul of the local sales and use tax collection process in Louisiana, set to take effect on July 1, 2027. Under this bill, the secretary of the Department of Revenue (DOR) will assume responsibility for collecting all sales and use taxes levied by local taxing authorities. The DOR will establish a program for the collection and distribution of these taxes, referred to as "nonstate tax proceeds," and will be required to maintain a real-time data sharing system on tax collections. The bill mandates timely transmission of these funds to local collectors and clarifies that nonstate tax proceeds will not be considered state money, thus exempt from appropriation.

Additionally, while the DOR will handle the collection process, local taxing authorities will retain their responsibilities for the administration and enforcement of these taxes. The bill repeals existing provisions that allowed for the collection of local sales and use taxes by a central collection commission in parishes without a single collector, thereby consolidating the collection process. Local collectors are required to submit copies of all local ordinances affecting sales and use taxes to the DOR by February 1, 2027, and to notify the DOR of any new or existing tax actions. The DOR will also be tasked with preparing monthly reconciliations and quarterly reports on tax collections, while allowing taxing authorities to request additional reports on delinquent accounts.

Statutes affected:
HB658 Original: 47:6(A), 47:64(A), 47:80(A)