Sales/Use/Indirect:
Louisiana DOR Summarizes New Law Defining and Taxing Certain Digital Products with Some Exemptions

2024 Third Extraordinary Session Legislative Summaries, La. Dept. of Rev. (12/16/24). The Louisiana Department of Revenue (Department) posted a summary of recently enacted legislation, including a bill (H.B. 8) that:

1. Adds a list of items – such as digital audiovisual works, digital audio works, digital books, digital codes, and digital applications and games – as includable in Louisiana’s sales and use tax base as defined “digital products,” and
2. Provides for some tax exemptions on digital products used for certain purposes [see H.B. 8, signed by gov. 12/4/24, and previously issued Multistate Tax Alert for more details on this special session legislation].

According to the Department, the legislation additionally provides that exclusions and exemptions applicable to tangible personal property also apply to digital products “so that all digital products have the same tax treatment as equivalent versions of tangible personal property.” Furthermore, this legislation “eliminates the definition of custom computer software and treats all software the same,” as Louisiana’s previous exemption for customer computer software “has been suspended or partly suspended since April 1, 2016.”

The Department also explains that pursuant to another recently signed bill (H.B. 10), two new taxable services are added:

1. Prewritten computer software access; and
2. Information services, which includes charges for furnishing of newsletters, tax guides, research publications, various reports, mailing lists, title abstracts, subscriptions to genealogical, financial, or similar databases, “GPS” systems and cable television services, direct-to-home satellite services, video programming services and satellite digital audio radio services.

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