Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Until tax years beginning January 1, 2026, Louisiana would tax an S-corp exactly like a C-corp unless it filed a separate exclusion or pass-through election; a recent law, Act 382, finally made S status automatic going forward, but any reader still closing out an earlier tax year faces the old trap.
Does this state require its own election
Yes. For tax years beginning before January 1, 2026, an S-corp had to either claim the S-corporation exclusion, proportional to Louisiana-resident shareholders, or make a separate pass-through entity tax election, Form R-6980, to avoid being taxed as a C-corp. Act 382 of the 2025 Regular Session made pass-through treatment automatic for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.
“Louisiana does not recognize Subchapter S status for income tax purposes … An S corporation is required to file income tax in the same manner as a C corporation [unless it claims the S corporation exclusion or makes the pass-through entity tax election].”
Louisiana Department of Revenue, Corporation Income and Franchise Taxes FAQ
What it costs at the entity level
Before Act 382, an S-corp that did not claim the exclusion or PTE election paid full Louisiana corporate income tax on its own income, a real entity-level bill an LLC never faced. From 2026 forward, S-corps instead file only an informational return by default.
| What Louisiana charges | Figure |
|---|---|
| Rate | Full Louisiana corporate income tax rate on entity income, for tax years before 2026, if no exclusion or election was made |
| Minimum | Not applicable after the 2026 change; an annual informational return replaces the old entity-level tax exposure |
“the pass-through entity tax election under LA R.S. 47:287.732.2 does not need to be made [when the S corporation exclusion applies]”
Louisiana Department of Revenue, Corporation Income and Franchise Taxes FAQ
Where recognition breaks down
Confirmed directly from the enrolled text of Act 382 (2025 Regular Session, HB 567), Section 3, fetched from the Louisiana Legislature’s own site: the automatic pass-through fix applies only to income tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026, so any S-corp still closing out an earlier tax year remains subject to the old default-to-C-corp trap.
“The provisions of this Act shall apply to income tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026.”
Louisiana Legislature, 2025 Regular Session Act 382 (enrolled)
The comparison against a plain LLC
The 2026 fix removes the historic trap going forward, but Louisiana still requires an annual informational filing an LLC does not, and anyone with an open pre-2026 tax year should not assume federal S status alone protected them here.
What this does not model
This page models the general shape of the Act 382 change but does not walk through the informational-return mechanics an S-corp must follow starting in the 2026 tax year, since Revenue Information Bulletin 25-032/26-007’s own procedural detail was not independently re-read this session.
No federal tax modelling is repeated here; see the federal S-corp election calculator for the payroll-tax and QBI mechanics this page assumes but does not recompute. No personal Louisiana income tax on the pass-through income itself is modelled either.
Sources
Every figure on this page is read from the text quoted above, fetched directly from the state’s own site or code, as read on September 4, 2026.
| What it establishes | Source |
|---|---|
| Whether Louisiana requires its own S-corp election | Louisiana Department of Revenue, Corporation Income and Franchise Taxes FAQ |
| What Louisiana charges an S-corp at the entity level | Louisiana Department of Revenue, Corporation Income and Franchise Taxes FAQ |
| How Louisiana treats S-corp recognition | Louisiana Legislature, 2025 Regular Session Act 382 (enrolled) |
General consumer information, not financial, tax or legal advice. State rules are as published by the cited source on September 4, 2026 and change; your own facts govern, and an S-corporation election is a decision to take with a tax professional who has seen your books.