Updated October 5, 2026. Quick answer: Yes, with an exemption at 65. Louisiana’s flat rate is 3% for 2025, and the 2025 instructions exempt up to $12,000 of annual retirement income, which the instructions describe as “any distributions from a pension, an annuity, or an individual retirement arrangement”, for a filer 65 or older.
More state retirement-income schedules, line by line: Louisiana retirement income exemption.
How Louisiana treats annuity income
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Treatment | Taxed at the flat rate; up to $12,000 of retirement income exempt at 65 |
| 2025 rate | “changed the income tax rate to a flat tax rate of 3%.” |
| Exemption | “Up to $12,000 of your annual retirement” income, if you are 65 or older |
| Statute | R.S. 47:44.1 defines annual retirement income as “pension and annuity income which is included in” tax table income as defined in R.S. 47:293 |
A $24,000 example
A filer 65 or older with $24,000 of annuity payments exempts $12,000, leaving $24,000 minus $12,000 = $12,000 taxed: $12,000 x 3% = $360.
A filer under 65 gets no exemption: $24,000 x 3% = $720.
What changes in 2026
R.S. 47:44.1 says the exemption is “adjusted annually beginning January 1, 2026” for inflation; the documents read print no 2026 dollar amount.
Federal rules
The state’s treatment sits on top of the federal one. The IRS explains the federal side in Topic no. 410, Pensions and Annuities and Publication 575, Pension and Annuity Income.
Related: whether Louisiana taxes pensions, how Louisiana taxes retirement income, state tax on 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, how a surrendered annuity is taxed, and pension and annuity decisions.
Find the right next step for your situation
About how much do you have invested? Pick the range that fits; your next step appears immediately below.
Compare vetted advisors for annuity decisions
If your portfolio is $250,000 or more, this connects you (free, with no obligation to hire anyone) with 2 to 3 vetted advisors.
Before you start, what actually happens. The matching service is run by WiserAdvisor, an independent advisor-matching company. It opens on their site, asks for your ZIP code and a few questions, and matches you with 2 to 3 vetted advisors. It is free to you.
WiserAdvisor states the service is built for portfolios of $250,000 and above. By submitting, you consent to emails, phone calls and text messages from WiserAdvisor and up to three advisors, so expect to be contacted. Clear Money Guide may earn a referral payment for a qualifying completed form, whether or not you ever hire anyone.
Opens on WiserAdvisor’s site in a new tab.
See how an advisor weighs your payout
Price the destination before you decide. The matching service below introduces you to advisers who pay to meet you.
Before you start, what actually happens. The form is run by Kapitalwise, our advisor-matching partner. Kapitalwise sends your details to advisers who pay for the introduction, so expect calls and texts. Clear Money Guide may earn a referral payment through this service, whether or not you ever hire anyone. This is free to you and there is no obligation to hire anyone.
The Kapitalwise form opens here; you stay on this page.
What happens when you press the button
It asks about nine questions: age, investable assets, location; then your name, email and phone number, and verifies the phone by text. Nothing loads and nothing reaches Kapitalwise until you press the button.
Prefer flat-fee or hourly pricing instead? Compare ranges here.
Answer againSources
- 2025 Louisiana Resident Income Tax Return Instructions IT-540i (Louisiana Department of Revenue): https://dam.ldr.la.gov/taxforms/IT540i-WEB-2025-Revised-7-26.pdf
- La. R.S. 47:44.1 Annual retirement or disability income; exemption from taxation (Louisiana Legislature): https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=102133
- Did the annual retirement exemption change? (Louisiana Department of Revenue FAQ): https://revenue.louisiana.gov/tax-education-and-faqs/faqs/income-tax-reform/did-the-annual-retirement-exemption-change/
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 5, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.