This first post in this series focuses on the obvious first question to address:  are we dealing with a Louisiana sales tax issue or a Louisiana use tax issue (or perhaps both)?  Which tax is applicable, and which Louisiana statutory tax provisions are to be utilized?

The interplay of sales tax and use tax in

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Today, in compliance with Proclamation No. JBE 2020-59, which was issued by Governor Edwards on May 14, 2020, the Louisiana Tax Commission (LTC) issued Statewide Advisory 05-2020 explaining that JBE 2020-59 continues the suspension of the statutory April 1, 2020 deadline for filing personal property renditions

Today, in a case of first impression that has captured national attention, the Louisiana Supreme Court held in a 4-3 decision that Wal-Mart.com (an online marketplace facilitator) is not required to collect and remit Jefferson Parish sales tax on behalf of its third-party sellers.

See Normand v. Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC, 2019-263 (La. 12/29/19), __

The date and time are now set for the much-anticipated oral argument of the Wal-Mart.com “marketplace” litigation matter in Louisiana’s highest court!

On September 4th, at 2:00 PM CT, the Louisiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments of the taxpayer, Wal-Mart.com, and the local tax collector, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (JPSO).

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Louisiana’s Uniform Local Sales Tax Board (“ULSTB”) has now issued its adopted regulation at Louisiana Administrative Code (“LAC”) 72:I.105 (“Voluntary Disclosure Agreements”) regarding a uniform voluntary disclosure program and corresponding uniform voluntary disclosure agreement (VDA) for Louisiana local sales and use tax purposes.  The final, adopted regulation contains the same language as the prior proposed

The Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers (the “Commission”) has now officially issued its second information bulletin – Remote Sellers Information Bulletin (“RSIB”) 18-002 – which provides a general definition for “remote sellers,” as well as further administrative guidance regarding current and future registration, collection, remittance, and reporting requirements for “remote sellers.”  

As word spread about the Supreme Court’s opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., Dkt. No. 17-494, 485 U.S.        (June 21, 2018), tax administrators around the country popped open bottles of champagne and began toasting the end of the “physical presence” substantial nexus standard.  The sounds of celebration were, at least initially, particularly deafening in Louisiana, with its sixty-three (63) autonomous parish taxing jurisdictions that levy, administer and collect local sales and use tax on behalf of numerous cities, towns, districts and other local jurisdictions.  Remote sellers might have considered downing a drink or two to drown their sorrows at the thought of potentially having to navigate the complex systems of state and local sales taxes in Louisiana.

As tax administrators continued to read the Wayfair opinion, however, a sobering reality began to set in that, at least in the short term, Louisiana’s various taxing jurisdictions are in no better position to force remote sellers to collect and remit state and local sales taxes than they were before the Wayfair decision (and perhaps even a worse one).
Continue Reading Not So Fast: Louisiana State and Local Sales Taxes in a Post-Wayfair World

IMG_5444The Louisiana Legislature’s 2017 Regular Session has now concluded, and as previously reported, numerous tax measures were proposed.  Ultimately, however, much of the proposed legislation addressing long-term tax reform was largely rejected by the Legislature during the Regular Session, leaving questions currently unanswered as to how the state will ultimately address the long-term issue

The Louisiana Task Force on Structural Changes in Budget & Tax Policy recently released its recommendations to reform Louisiana’s sales and use tax, individual income tax, corporate income & franchise taxes, ad valorem property tax and economic development incentives. The highlights of the Task Force’s recommendations include:

Sales and Use Tax:

  • Expand the sales and