Louisiana car sales tax, plate and title fees

Two taxes, one domicile

The state sales tax rate has been 5% since January 1, 2025. The local part is set by the domicile where the car will be registered, which can be a parish, a city, or a school or economic development district inside them, and the OMV Parish and Municipality Tax Table lists each one with its history. Combined local rates run from 2% in Lafayette Parish outside city limits to 6% in Catahoula Parish, and city limits matter: Baton Rouge and the rest of East Baton Rouge Parish both total 5.5%, Shreveport 4.6%. Both taxes apply to the price minus a qualifying trade-in and rebate, on new and used cars and on private sales as well.

A plate priced by value, paid two years at a time

Louisiana's license plate is a small tax on value: $10 a year for a car worth $10,000 or less, plus $1 for each additional $1,000, rounded at $500, and plates are sold for two years, so the minimum is $20. The value is fixed when you buy the car and does not drop at renewal. Electric cars add a road usage fee of $110 a year and hybrids, including plug-in hybrids, $60, now collected by the OMV with the plate for the same two years. An $18,000 used electric car bought privately in East Baton Rouge Parish costs $2,232.50 at the OMV, $220.00 of road usage fee included.

The brake tag ends in 2027, except around Baton Rouge

Through 2026 every car needs a yearly safety inspection sticker at $10, or $18 with the emissions test required in Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston and West Baton Rouge parishes. Act 701 of 2026 replaces the sticker elsewhere on January 1, 2027 with an identification program sticker of no more than $6 a year; the five emissions parishes keep their test until federal approval. Compare with Texas, which ended safety inspections in 2025, or with Mississippi.

What sets Louisiana apart

• Since January 1, 2025 the Louisiana state sales tax rate is 5% (Louisiana Department of Revenue).
• Sales tax on a vehicle follows the domicile where it is registered and is charged on the price minus a qualifying trade-in and rebate, on new and used cars alike (Louisiana OMV).
• Parish and municipal rates run from 2% in Lafayette Parish outside city limits to 6% in Catahoula Parish, according to the OMV tax table (Louisiana OMV).
• Every title costs $68.50 and the OMV adds an $8 handling fee (Louisiana OMV).
• The license plate tax is $10 a year up to $10,000 of value plus $1 for each $1,000 above, rounded at $500, and is collected two years at a time (La. R.S. 47:463).
• The vehicle's value is fixed when it is bought and the same plate tax applies at every renewal after that (La. R.S. 47:463).
• Electric vehicles pay a road usage fee of $110 a year and hybrids, plug-in or not, $60, collected with the registration (La. R.S. 32:461).
• In Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston and West Baton Rouge parishes the yearly inspection includes an emissions test and costs $18 (Louisiana DEQ).
• Act 701 of 2026 replaces the inspection sticker with a vehicle identification sticker of no more than $6 a year from January 1, 2027, outside the emissions parishes (Louisiana Act 701 of 2026 (HB 1085)).
• Dealers may charge a documentary fee of up to $436 in 2026 (Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission).

What the Louisiana calculation cannot know

• Local sales tax is set by the domicile where the vehicle is registered (parish, city, school or economic development district). The list holds every parish's rate outside city limits and the main cities, taken as the latest parish and municipal entries of the OMV Parish and Municipality Tax Table on 2026-10-11; for any other domicile, type the rate shown by the OMV table.
• Whether a dealer documentary fee is part of the taxable sale price was not confirmed on an official page for this release; the calculator leaves it out of the taxable price.
• A pickup or SUV registered as a truck pays a plate fee set by its gross vehicle weight rating ($40 or $112 for four years), which the form does not ask; it is shown as a range.
• Some offices add a local fee of up to $6 at titling, and public tag agents may charge their own convenience fee; the local fee is shown as a range and agent fees are not included.
• Act 701 of 2026 ends the brake tag outside the five emissions parishes on January 1, 2027 and replaces it with a vehicle identification program sticker of not more than $6 a year, whose exact amount was not yet published; renewals from 2027 show it as a range. In the five parishes the $18 inspection stays until the EPA approves the state plan.
• The 2026 doc fee cap of $436 comes from the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission bulletin under R.S. 6:969.18(A)(2).