State Sales Tax Hike Close-Up

It's well known that the Louisiana Sate budget is in a shambles to say the least. It's been three days since Louisiana's new sales tax measures kicked in and there's not a heck of a lot we can do about it.

In an effort to remedy the massive budget shortfall, the Louisiana legislature passed a number of state sales tax measures. Among those measures is the addition of an extra penny to the state's regular four cent-per-dollar sales tax.

It may not be a huge increase, but we will be paying slightly more for things like dining out, clothing, computers and cars. While it's not a big increase it still puts Louisiana on the list as having the highest sales tax in the country. Well, I guess it's how we pay for all our excellent roads and our superior schools, right?

This "temporary" sales tax will expire in June of 2018, but what would you like to bet that it won't ever go away?

Another big change starting this year will be the fact that there are no more big "Tax Holidays." State lawmakers voted to do away with the sales tax holiday for hurricane preparedness, which is usually held in May.

Other sales tax holidays are being scaled back. The tax-free weekends for general shopping in August and Second Amendment shopping in September, are now sales tax reduction weekends.

Items that were tax-exempt in the past have temporarily lost their exemption. For the next few months, consumers will pay five percent more for items like newspapers or football game tickets.

Governor John Bel Edwards and the legislature opted to keep a phone tax, which was set to expire this Spring. Louisiana residents and businesses will continue paying a one percent telecommunications sales tax for cell phones and landlines.

All of these state sales tax measures leave Louisiana residents with the burden of paying for the state's budget mess.