Public Affairs Research Council President Robert Travis Scott expects the Legislature will seek to reform the way the state collects sales taxes when the legislative session begins in April. Scott says a task force has been working to bring the state’s sales tax collection system in line with the rest of the country.
“Make sure that when businesses are collecting their sales taxes and remitting them to the state that they just have hopefully a narrower set of rules and one location to go to,” said Scott.
It’s a touchy subject as many parish leaders do not want to give up direct control of their sales tax collections. Scott says that’s because local governments rely heavily on those revenues.
“Most local governments lean a little heavier on the property taxes than in other parts of the country, and our local sales taxes are relatively high,” said Scott.
Scott says even if the Legislature passes an item to reform and centralize sales tax collections, voters will have the last say.
“We cannot really fix the tax administration without changing the state constitution and that means a ballot item that everybody gets to vote on, and probably this fall,” said Scott.
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