Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator — Louisiana (2026)
If you earn income in Louisiana without withholding — freelancing, contracting, rentals, dividends — the IRS expects payment four times a year, not once. This calculator turns your expected 2026 net profit into a per-quarter number covering self-employment tax, federal income tax and Louisiana state tax. Louisiana uses a flat personal income tax of 3.00% applied to taxable income after a state standard deduction of $12,500.
Louisiana Quarterly Tax Calculator
Gross 1099 income minus business expenses.
2026 due dates and safe harbor
Federal estimated payments are due April 15, June 15, September 15 of 2026 and January 15 of 2027. You avoid penalties by paying either 90% of the current year's liability or 100% of last year's (110% if prior-year AGI exceeded $150,000) — the safe-harbor rule.
Louisiana runs its own estimated-payment schedule that usually mirrors the federal dates. On $90,000 of net profit the Louisiana portion alone is about $534 per quarter.
Underpayment penalties
The IRS charges interest-style penalties per quarter you fall short, currently around 7–8% annualized. Paying late in the year does not fix an early-quarter shortfall unless you use the annualized income method on Form 2210.
Irregular income is common in oil work around New Orleans: if Q1 is slow and Q4 is huge, the annualized method usually beats four equal payments.
Paying as a Louisiana taxpayer
Pay federally through IRS Direct Pay or EFTPS, and Louisiana through the state revenue department's online portal — keep confirmation numbers for both.
Louisiana has no separate city or county income tax, so the state figure above is the full sub-federal income tax you pay.
Local and payroll taxes Louisiana adds on top
Louisiana adds no state-mandated employee payroll deduction beyond FICA, so nothing extra is taken from your gross pay at the state level.
Louisiana has no separate city or county income tax, so the state figure above is the full sub-federal income tax you pay.
Nobody withholds these for you when you are self-employed in Louisiana. Local wage taxes, city business licences and gross-receipts style levies are yours to register for and remit alongside your quarterly federal and state estimates.
Working across a state line from Louisiana
Louisiana has no income-tax reciprocity agreements, so if you live here and work across a state line you generally file a nonresident return in the work state and claim a credit at home to avoid double taxation.
Remote and hybrid work complicates this further: most states tax income where the work is physically performed, so a New Orleans resident spending part of the year at a client site in Texas may owe a nonresident return there. Keep a day-count log if you split time between states.
The rest of your Louisiana tax bill
Louisiana charges a 5% state sales tax, homeowners pay an average effective property tax of 0.56% of market value, and the minimum wage in force during 2026 is $7.25 an hour.
Local rates are the highest in the nation on average, pushing combined sales tax above 10%.
Income tax is only one part of a state's take. Louisiana recovers revenue through sales and property tax as well, which is why headline income tax rates alone are a poor guide to how far a salary really goes. Louisiana exempts Social Security, all state and local pensions, and up to $6,000 of other retirement income at 65+.
Louisiana vs Texas on the same salary
On a $90,000 salary, a single filer keeps about $69,820 a year in Louisiana against roughly $72,145 in Texas — a difference of $2,325, or $194 a month.
Effective combined rates are 22.4% in Louisiana and 19.8% in Texas. Set that gap against living costs: index 91 here versus 92 there, with property tax at 0.56% and 1.68% respectively.
Louisiana income tax brackets 2026 (single filer)
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 and up | 3.00% |