Self-Employed Tax Calculator — Louisiana (2026)
Self-employed in Louisiana? Your tax bill has three layers that a W-2 employee never sees in full: 15.3% self-employment tax on 92.35% of net profit, federal income tax, and Louisiana state income tax. This calculator applies all three to your 2026 net profit and shows the quarterly amount you should be setting aside. Louisiana uses a flat personal income tax of 3.00% applied to taxable income after a state standard deduction of $12,500.
Louisiana Self-Employed Tax Calculator
Gross 1099 income minus business expenses.
Self-employment tax vs Louisiana income tax
Self-employment tax is federal and identical in all 50 states: 12.4% Social Security up to $184,500 of net earnings plus 2.9% Medicare with no cap. Half of it is deductible against income tax, which is why the calculator subtracts it before applying brackets.
Louisiana then taxes essentially the same profit figure at 3.00%. On $80,000 of net profit that adds roughly $1,855 to the bill.
Louisiana has no separate city or county income tax, so the state figure above is the full sub-federal income tax you pay.
Deductions that matter for Louisiana freelancers
Net profit — not gross revenue — drives every number here. Ordinary and necessary business expenses reduce SE tax, federal tax, and Louisiana tax simultaneously: the 2026 standard mileage rate of $0.67/mile, home-office square footage, software, equipment, professional insurance, and the self-employed health insurance deduction.
Retirement plans go further. A SEP-IRA or solo 401(k) reduces income tax (though not SE tax) and is often the largest single deduction available to a profitable oil contractor in New Orleans.
Working for yourself in Louisiana
Louisiana's economy leans on oil, tourism, and shipping, which shapes the contractor market around New Orleans — and your fixed costs. With one-bedroom rent near $1,450, a freelancer needs meaningfully more gross revenue than an employee to reach the same lifestyle, because there is no employer paying half of FICA.
Louisiana ditched its three-bracket progressive system for a flat 3% income tax in 2025 — pairing it with a generous $12,500 standard deduction.
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% |