BATON ROUGE – State tax relief is available for Louisiana taxpayers in areas affected by the Mississippi River saltwater intrusion that began on Sept. 20, 2023.

The Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) is granting automatic filing extensions to taxpayers whose primary residences, principal places of business, critical tax records or paid tax preparers are in parishes within the federally-declared disaster area: Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard.

Filing extensions of up to six months are available for the following tax types:

·        Corporate Income

·        Corporation Franchise

·        Fiduciary Income

·        Individual Income

·        Partnership Income

For taxpayers who qualify for the automatic extension, no action on their part is required. LDR will apply the extension to their accounts automatically. Taxpayers who do not meet all the criteria for an automatic extension can still apply to LDR for penalty relief. Read Revenue Information Bulletin 23-026 for more information.

BATON ROUGE – A Jennings man faces multiple felony charges related to a fraud scheme that cost Louisiana taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegitimate income tax refunds.

Investigators with the Louisiana Department of Revenue say Anthony Larance Candler, Sr., submitted more than 200 fraudulent state income tax returns on behalf of clients in 2020 and 2021 claiming deductions for more than $400,000 in fabricated business expenses. Candler’s clients told investigators they did not provide Candler with any documentation for those claims, and that he submitted the returns without their knowledge.

Candler was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, on charges of Filing or Maintaining False Public Records, Illegal Transmission of Monetary Funds and Computer Fraud.

Candler is the 73rd person arrested under a joint anti-tax fraud initiative of the Louisiana Department of Revenue and the state Attorney General’s Office.

BATON ROUGE – Consumer purchases of firearms, ammunition and a wide range of hunting supplies are exempt from state sales tax during the Louisiana Second Amendment Weekend Sales Tax Holiday, Friday, Sept. 1 through Sunday, Sept. 3.

Act 288 of the 2023 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature reinstated the sales tax holiday, which had been suspended since 2018. 

The state sales tax exemption applies to all consumer purchases of firearms, ammunition and specified hunting supplies, including archery items, hunting apparel and certain types of knives. 

Purchases not eligible for the sales tax exemption include hunting dogs, animal feed, off-road vehicles and vessels such as airboats.

The exemption applies to individual consumer purchases only. It does not apply to business or commercial purchases.

Read Revenue Information Bulletin 23-018 for more information, including special provisions and complete lists of eligible and ineligible purchases.