Louisiana parents are heading into the back-to-school rush without the tax-free weekend many shoppers might have expected. School clothes, notebooks, backpacks and other classroom necessities will be taxed like ordinary purchases as students return in the coming days.
The missing break is not a temporary scheduling snafu. According to New Orleans CityBusiness, Louisiana has not reinstated its back-to-school sales tax holiday, leaving shoppers to pay the 5% state sales tax along with local taxes that can push the combined rate to roughly 9% to 11%.
Louisiana lawmakers suspended the state’s sales tax holidays in 2018 during a budget overhaul. A bulletin from the Louisiana Department of Revenue said the August back-to-school holiday, hurricane-preparedness holiday and Second Amendment holiday would not receive the state tax exemption from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2025.
A Proposed Back-To-School Fix Never Became Law
After that suspension period ended, lawmakers had a chance to create a new version of the break. House Bill 551, tracked by the Louisiana Legislature, would have made the first Saturday of August tax-free for school supplies, clothing, footwear, backpacks, books and certain computers.
The proposal included price limits, with computers required to cost less than $500 and most other eligible items less than $50. But the bill remained pending in the House Ways and Means Committee after being considered in May 2025, and the legislative session ended without creating the holiday.
The proposal also ran into the basic problem facing every tax exemption: somebody has to absorb the lost revenue. A Legislative Fiscal Office analysis said the bill could reduce state collections by millions of dollars annually, with similar losses expected for local governments, although the exact impact depended on how much shopping shifted onto the tax-free day.
Families Are Shopping Carefully As Costs Keep Pressing
The timing is rough for families already trying to stretch their budgets. NerdWallet found that shoppers plan to spend an average of $611 on back-to-school expenses this year, while 25% said higher living costs would make them cut back and 62% said they planned to seek out sales.
More than a quarter of shoppers told NerdWallet they expect to rely on tax-free shopping days, a savings option Louisiana families will not have this August. For shoppers near the state’s borders, the absence is even more noticeable because Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi continue offering annual back-to-school tax holidays, as previously detailed by New Orleans CityBusiness.
Louisiana Still Has One Tax Holiday On The Calendar
Louisiana did restore one of its former tax breaks: the Second Amendment Weekend Sales Tax Holiday. The Louisiana Department of Revenue lists the 2026 holiday for September 4 through September 6, covering specified firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies.
For school shoppers, though, there is no comparable state-sponsored break on the 2026 calendar. This year’s savings will have to come from retailer discounts, coupons or careful timing rather than a tax-free weekend at the register.
