Louisiana Retirement Taxes 2026: Flat 3%, $12,324 Exclusion

The Act 11 corrections (flat 3%, $12,000 at 65+)

How Louisiana taxes retirement income (statute-cited)

Succession (probate, Louisiana-style): the 2.5% commission and the $125,000 small succession

Is Louisiana a good state to retire in for taxes?

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2026 edition · statute-cited · part of Clear Money Guide’s 51-state retirement tax series. This guide covers state taxes on retirement income and estate transfers; property and sales taxes vary by county and are outside its scope.

Updated July 24, 2026. Quick answer: Louisiana rewrote its income tax and most retirement guides haven’t caught up: as of tax year 2025 the state levies a flat 3% (Act 11, 2024 Third Extraordinary Session) — the old 1.85%/3.5%/4.25% brackets are gone — and the 65+ exclusion for private retirement income doubled to $12,000 per person for TY2025 and is now indexed to inflation ($12,324 for TY2026). Social Security and federal retirement benefits, along with benefits from the Louisiana state employees’ and teachers’ systems and the other Louisiana retirement systems the Department of Revenue lists, were already fully exempt. No estate tax; the inheritance tax has been dead since mid-2004.

More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Louisiana Sheriffs Back-DROP.

More state retirement-income schedules, line by line: Louisiana retirement income exemption.

Inherited an IRA? What the state’s own documents say about taxing those withdrawals: Louisiana tax on inherited IRA withdrawals.

Hold a 403(b) or 457(b)? What the state’s own documents say about taxing those withdrawals: does Louisiana tax 403(b) and 457(b) withdrawals.

Before the tax question, the school employees’ system (LSERS), with its options and refund rules from its own documents: Louisiana LSERS retirement decisions.

Before the tax question, three more Louisiana systems (the state employees’ system, the sheriffs’ fund and the parochial employees’ system), with options and refund rules from their own documents: Louisiana LASERS retirement decisions, Louisiana Sheriffs’ Pension retirement decisions and Louisiana Parochial Employees’ Retirement decisions.

Drawing a pension? Whether the state withholds tax from it, from its own documents: Louisiana tax withholding on pension payments.

Before the tax question, the Firefighters’ Retirement System of Louisiana options, DROP and refund rules, from the Louisiana Revised Statutes: Louisiana Firefighters Retirement System decisions.

Before the tax question, the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System of Louisiana options, DROP and refund rules, from the system’s own documents: Louisiana MPERS retirement decisions.

Selling your home? How the state taxes the profit, from its own tax documents: Does Louisiana tax the profit from selling your home?.

The state’s income tax schedule: the Louisiana tax brackets for 2026.

Withdrawing from an IRA or 401(k)? Whether the state withholds tax from it, from its own documents: Louisiana tax withholding on IRA and 401(k) withdrawals.

For a pension earned elsewhere or paid after you move: does Louisiana tax out-of-state pensions.

For trust income specifically: does Louisiana tax trust income.

For dividends and interest specifically: does Louisiana tax dividends and interest.

Inheriting from, or planning for, someone in this state? Whether the state has an inheritance tax, from its own tax documents: Does Louisiana have an inheritance tax?.

Making a gift or planning an estate? The state’s gift tax answer, from its own tax documents: Does Louisiana have a gift tax?.

For annuity payments specifically: does Louisiana tax annuity income.

Planning for what you leave behind? The state’s estate tax answer, from its own tax documents: Does Louisiana have an estate tax?.

For military retired pay: does Louisiana tax military retirement.

Saving for a child’s college? The state’s 529 break has its own page: Louisiana 529 plan tax deduction.

For the sale of stocks, funds or real estate: does Louisiana tax capital gains.

For 401(k) and IRA withdrawals specifically: does Louisiana tax 401(k) and IRA withdrawals.

The Act 11 corrections (flat 3%, $12,000 at 65+)

Two figures to fix in older coverage: the rate — a flat 3% from TY2025, replacing the three-bracket schedule still quoted across the web — and the age-65 exclusion for private pensions, 401(k)s and IRAs, which rose from $6,000 to $12,000 per person effective TY2025 and is indexed to CPI-U each year from 2026 (La. R.S. 47:44.1(A); the Department of Revenue rule amendment states $12,324 for tax year 2026). A married couple filing jointly, both 65 or older, can shelter up to $24,000 of retirement income in TY2025 ($24,648 in TY2026) only if each spouse personally received at least that much annual retirement income; if only one spouse has retirement income, the exclusion is limited to one spouse’s amount. Social Security and benefits from federal and listed Louisiana retirement systems are exempt separately. The rest is taxed at just 3%, among the lowest rates of any income-taxing state.

How Louisiana taxes retirement income (statute-cited)

Income tax	Flat 3% (Act 11, effective TY2025)
Social Security	Not taxed (fully exempt)
Government pensions	Fully exempt: federal retirement benefits (military and nonmilitary), the Louisiana State Employees’ and Teachers’ systems, and the other Louisiana systems the Department of Revenue lists as exempt. Pension income from other plans counts as annual retirement income under the 65+ exclusion.
Private pension / 401(k) / IRA	65+: exclude up to $12,000/person for TY2025 (raised from $6,000) and $12,324/person for TY2026 (inflation-indexed); flat 3% above
Military retirement	Fully exempt (incl. Survivor Benefit Plan income)
Estate / inheritance tax	None (Act 822 of the 2008 Regular Session repealed the Louisiana inheritance tax law, R.S. 47:2401 to 2426; no state estate transfer tax is due for deaths after December 31, 2004)

Succession (probate, Louisiana-style): the 2.5% commission and the $200,000 small succession

Louisiana’s civil-law system calls it succession, and the default statutory commission for an executor or administrator is 2.5% of the amount of the inventory absent a provision in the testament or an agreement, and the court may increase it on a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate (La. C.C.P. art. 3351); attorney fees are reasonable with no schedule. Estates of a decedent domiciled in Louisiana with gross property of $200,000 or less at death qualify as a small succession (La. C.C.P. art. 3421), with an affidavit procedure (art. 3431 et seq.) that skips court administration — among the higher small-estate lines in the South. Context: probate cost by state · small-estate limits by state.

Is Louisiana a good state to retire in for taxes?

Post-Act 11, genuinely strong: exempt Social Security, federal retirement benefits and benefits from the Louisiana systems the Department of Revenue lists as exempt, plus a $12,000/person (TY2025; $12,324 for TY2026) exclusion for other pension, annuity and IRA income at 65+, and a flat 3% that undercuts every neighbor with an income tax. Government retirees do best; even portfolio retirees pay less here than in most of the South. The planning notes are structural — Louisiana’s community-property and forced-heirship rules make estate documents matter more than tax rates — and that 2.5% executor commission rewards a well-planned succession.

Louisiana is one of 43 jurisdictions that do not tax Social Security at any income level in 2026. The other 8 exempt benefits only up to an income or age limit. Full rules and statutes: the 51-state table.

Louisiana vs. common alternatives

State	Social Security	Pension / 401(k) / IRA	Estate tax	Inheritance tax
Louisiana	Not taxed	Federal and listed Louisiana system pensions exempt; $12,324/person at 65+ on other pension, annuity and IRA income in 2026 (flat 3%)	None	None
Mississippi	Not taxed	Qualified retirement income fully exempt	None	None
Texas	Not taxed	Not taxed (no income tax)	None	None
Florida	Not taxed	Not taxed (no income tax)	None	None

Comparison rows summarize general rules; see our 51-state retirement tax table for statute-cited detail.

Considering a Roth conversion? The converted amount is taxed as ordinary income in the year you convert, and Louisiana may treat it differently from the retirement income above — see how all 51 jurisdictions tax Roth conversions.

Finding a financial advisor in Louisiana

Per the SEC’s July 2026 Investment Adviser roster, Louisiana has 79 SEC-registered advisory firms (#32 nationally) managing $98.1 billion (#34 by AUM). Full breakdown: Louisiana advisor statistics. Reviewing fee structures: fee-drag calculator.

What probate costs in Louisiana

Louisiana uses a default percentage that the testament or an agreement can replace and the court can increase: absent either, the executor or administrator receives 2.5% of the amount of the inventory, and the court may increase it on a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate (La. C.C.P. art. 3351). Its small-estate route of $200,000 reaches real property only where the decedent died intestate — La. C.C.P. art. 3431 opens the small-succession affidavit to an intestate Louisiana domiciliary with no exclusion for immovables, and closes it to a testate domiciliary who left immovable property here. Full detail with the governing statute, the court filing fee and the threshold: Louisiana probate cost. To price a specific estate, use the probate cost calculator.

Cite or share this guide

Suggested citation: Clear Money Guide, “Louisiana Retirement Taxes (2026 edition),” statute-cited; clearmoneyguide.com/louisiana-retirement-taxes/. Free to cite with attribution and a link. Data verified July 23–24, 2026 against state statutes, session laws, and revenue-department guidance.

Figures verified against the Louisiana Department of Revenue (Revenue Information Bulletin 25-012, income-tax FAQs and LAC 61:I.1311 rule materials), La. R.S. 47:44.1 and 47:44.2, and La. C.C.P. arts. 3351, 3421 and 3431 on September 30, 2026; the 2004 inheritance-tax repeal, the Louisiana state and local pension exclusions, the SEC adviser roster figures, the 51-state Social Security counts and the neighbor-state comparison rows were not re-checked.

How Does Louisiana Tax Retirement Income in 2026? (Flat 3%, and the Exclusion Just Doubled)

What this state guide covers