Doing business in Louisiana
Registering a company, charging the right sales tax, and finding the money that is already there. The practical layer for every one of Louisiana's 64 parishes.
Checked 29 August 2026
Getting real business help in Louisiana has usually meant an appointment, office hours, and one consultant at a time. These guides are the other way round: the rules written down, parish by parish, free, and available at two in the morning.
Start a business
The sequence is the same everywhere in the state, and it is shorter than most people expect.
- Choose a structure. For most owners that is an LLC.
- File with the Louisiana Secretary of State.
- Get an EIN from the IRS. It is free and takes minutes.
- Register for sales tax with the Louisiana Department of Revenue, and separately with your parish collector.
- Get the parish or municipal occupational license your address requires.
A deadline worth knowing. Under Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Session, from 1 October 2026 forming an LLC with the Secretary of State rises from $100 to $125, and the annual report from $30 to $35. Same filing, $25 more.
Sales tax is collected locally, and that catches people out
Louisiana does not run one statewide rate. The state takes 5.00 percent, and each parish adds its own, split again across the towns inside it. Three consequences follow, and they are the same in every parish:
- The rate follows the job, not your office. Work performed in an unincorporated part of a parish is taxed at the parish rate. Work inside a town is taxed at that town's rate.
- You register twice. The state portion with the Department of Revenue, the local portion with the parish collector. Registering with the state does not register you locally.
- Verify the exact address. Rates inside one parish can differ by several points.
Charging one flat rate across parish and town lines is among the most common findings in a Louisiana contractor audit.
Money that is already appropriated
Louisiana Economic Development runs capital and credit programs for small firms, including the state's SSBCI allocation. The Hudson Initiative and the Veteran Initiative are the state's small and veteran owned certifications, and they matter on state work and on the state funded portions of large projects. SAM.gov registration is free and is the prerequisite for any federal contracting.
Parish guides
Every parish sets its own local tax and its own occupational license, so the practical answer to almost any question is a parish answer.
A project worth its own pages
- Starbase Louisiana, the announced SpaceX spaceport at Pecan Island, and what a build like it actually buys.
Talk to a person instead
A Bizer advisor works with small businesses in their own patch, and the first conversation is free. Find an advisor near you.
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