Louisiana boat tax is Form R-1331, not a single statewide combined rate. State tax on purchases on or after January 1, 2025 is 5.00% — not the older 4.45% band. Parish, municipal, and school-board tax stack on top. On a $30,000 dealer boat with a 5% local illustration, state tax is $1,500, local tax is $1,500, and combined tax is $3,000. If combined tax would exceed $20,000 and you pay within 90 days of purchase, the cap is $20,000 split $10,000 state and $10,000 local. Isolated occasional private sales can be 0% state; local collectors may still charge. Report and pay by the 20th of the month after purchase. Look up your local rate, then use the Louisiana Department of Revenue watercraft page and the LDWF title-or-register page linked below.
- How much is Louisiana boat sales tax and registration?
- The Louisiana tax rule
- Trade-in, dealer vs private
- Parish and local tax
- LDWF title and registration fees
- Gifts, new residents, out-of-state, and documented vessels
- How to calculate Louisiana boat tax
- What this page does not estimate
- Two complete buying examples
- FAQ
- Before you sign
- Complete reference list
Pay on R-1331, then register with LDWF. Louisiana Department of Revenue — Watercraft Sales Tax explains dealer versus individual filings and the new-resident cost-or-fair-market-value rule. Current 5.00% state rate is on LDR’s boat FAQ. Download Form R-1331 for the worksheet, the $20,000 cap, isolated 0% state, trade-in, and credits. Look up local rates at the Uniform Local Sales Tax Board Tax Rate Lookup. Number and title the boat with LDWF — Title or Register Your Boat.
How much is Louisiana boat sales tax and registration?
For a purchase on or after January 1, 2025, state tax is 5% of the taxable amount (sales price minus trade-in). Add local parish, municipal, and school-board tax from the official lookup. A $30,000 dealer boat with a 5% local illustration is $1,500 state + $1,500 local = $3,000. Combined state plus local on boats registered in Louisiana shall not exceed $20,000 if the tax is paid within 90 days of purchase after credits; the cap splits $10,000 state / $10,000 local. Isolated private sales on or after July 1, 2016 are 0% state when the seller is not in the business of selling watercraft; local may still apply. LDWF registration is $36 Class A (15 feet 11 inches and under), $57 Class I (16 to 25 feet 11 inches), $78 Class II (26 to 39 feet 11 inches), and $99 at 40 feet and longer. A new title is $26. Record or release a lien is $10. Ownership transfer is $5 plus registration. Inspection is $25 if there is no HIN.
The 4.45% state rate is a historical band for July 1, 2018 through December 31, 2024. Using it on a 2026 purchase understates state tax. On $30,000, 4.45% would be $1,335; 5% is $1,500. That $165 gap is the stale-rate error. Form R-1331’s July 2025 revision (as of March 10, 2026) and LDR’s FAQ both state 5.00% for current purchases.
LDWF will not finish registration without proof that taxes were paid — R-1331 with LDR and parish signatures, or dealer certification when combined tax is $20,000 or less and paid to the dealer or builder. A trailer is a separate Office of Motor Vehicles registration. Do not fold trailer tax into this watercraft worksheet.
Watercraft on the LDR page includes more than a center-console. Jet skis, party barges, and similar hulls follow the same 5% state plus local worksheet. A homemade boat, a hull with a bad HIN, or an outboard of 25 horsepower or more when you register can force a title even if you thought a registration sticker would be enough. Inspection is $25 when there is no HIN. Financing adds the $10 lien record. None of those LDWF lines replace R-1331. Pay the tax worksheet first, then stack the class fee.
If combined tax is $20,000 or less, the dealer or builder is usually the cashier and R-1331 certifies that the tax was paid there. If the worksheet would exceed $20,000, do not assume the dealer can “just collect it.” Follow the cap instructions: $10,000 state and $10,000 local when you pay within 90 days. Bring that certified form to LDWF with the bill of sale or MSO.
Example 1: $30,000 dealer boat, 5% local illustration, 2025 or later
Scenario: Louisiana dealer. No trade-in. Local combined illustration 5%. Length 20 feet (Class I). Title required.
The 5% local figure is the official worksheet illustration, not a named parish rate. Look up your address at the Uniform Local Sales Tax Board tool.
Example 2: Same boat with a $5,000 trade-in
Scenario: R-1331 Line 2 subtracts the trade. Same 5% local illustration.
Trade-in is a real subtraction on the Louisiana watercraft form. Keep the registration number of the boat you trade.
- LDR Form R-1331 — 5% rate; worksheet; $20,000 cap; isolated 0% state; trade-in; credits
- LDR FAQ — current boat sales tax rate 5.00%
- LDWF — Title or Register Your Boat — length classes and title fees
The Louisiana tax rule
Louisiana taxes watercraft — including jet skis and party barges — under state sales and use tax plus local tax. Form R-1331 is the payment certification and worksheet. Sales price includes the watercraft, installed accessories, and a motor when the form treats them as combined. Subtract trade-in. Multiply by 5% for state tax on purchases on or after January 1, 2025. Subtract credit for tax paid to another state on the state line. Compute local tax on the same taxable amount at the collector’s combined local rate. If combined state (after credit) plus local exceeds $20,000 and you pay within 90 days of purchase, collect $20,000 split equally: $10,000 state and $10,000 local.
Historical state rates on R-1331: 4% before April 1, 2016; 5% from April 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018; 4.45% from July 1, 2018 through December 31, 2024; 5.00% on or after January 1, 2025. Use the band that matches the purchase date, not today’s rate on an old closing.
The return is due by the 20th of the month following purchase. Missing that date is an LDR timing issue. Missing the 90-day cap window is a different issue: R-1331 ties the $20,000 cap to payment within ninety days. If you are late on a yacht that would have capped, ask LDR whether the cap still applies. This page does not assume it does.
Example 1: $500,000 yacht, 10% combined illustration, paid within 90 days
Scenario: Uncapped 10% of $500,000 would be $50,000. The cap applies because payment is inside 90 days.
Without the cap you would have written a $50,000 tax check. With the cap and on-time payment you write $20,000, split evenly, even if the raw state and local percents were not equal.
Example 2: Same yacht paid after 90 days
Scenario: Combined tax would exceed $20,000. Payment is late relative to the ninety-day sentence on R-1331.
File with LDR immediately and ask whether the cap survived. Do not budget the cap as a sure thing on a late yacht.
- Form R-1331 citing La. R.S. 47:303(A)(3) and 337.86 — $20,000 cap and 50/50 split
- LDR Watercraft Sales Tax — process and due date (20th of the following month)
Trade-in, dealer vs private
If combined tax is $20,000 or less, you typically pay the Louisiana dealer or builder and R-1331 certifies that payment. If combined tax would exceed $20,000, follow the cap instructions on the form instead of treating the dealer as the whole cashier. Isolated occasional sales by an individual who is not in the business of selling watercraft are 0% state on or after July 1, 2016. Local taxes may still apply — confirm with the parish collector. A seller who is in the business of selling watercraft is not on the isolated 0% state path.
Trade-in is Line 2 of the worksheet. Subtract it from sales price before the 5% and before local. Out-of-state tax already paid is a credit on the state line (Line 5), not a subtraction from the boat price.
Example 1: Isolated private $20,000 boat, 5% local illustration
Scenario: Neighbor sells a boat. Seller is not in the watercraft business. Purchase after July 1, 2016.
State $0 is the isolated rule. Local $1,000 is what a 5% local rate would do on $20,000 if the parish imposes local tax on isolated sales. Ask the collector. Do not skip that call.
Example 2: Dealer-like private seller
Scenario: The seller regularly sells boats. Isolated 0% state does not apply. Treat the rates like a dealer file. $20,000, 5% local illustration, 2025 purchase.
The isolated box is about who the seller is, not about a handshake. A person in the business of selling watercraft does not get the 0% state line.
- Form R-1331 — isolated/occasional individual sales 0% state on/after July 1, 2016; trade-in Line 2; dealer certification when combined tax is $20,000 or less
- LDR Watercraft Sales Tax — dealer versus individual
Parish and local tax
Louisiana locals are municipal, school-board, and parish sales and use taxes. They change. R-1331 sends you to the Uniform Local Sales Tax Board lookup at rates.salestaxportal.com. This page does not publish a parish percentage as if it were frozen. The 5% and 4% local figures in the worked examples are worksheet illustrations from the official examples, not named-parish rates.
When the $20,000 cap applies, the split is $10,000 state and $10,000 local regardless of whether your raw local rate was higher or lower than the state 5%. That 50/50 split is the cap rule, not a suggestion.
| Line | What to use |
|---|---|
| State rate (2025+ purchase) | 5.00% |
| Local rate | Official lookup by address — not a statewide table |
| Cap, paid within 90 days | $20,000 total; $10,000 state / $10,000 local |
Example 1: $40,000 out-of-state purchase, $1,800 tax already paid, 4% local illustration
Scenario: Taxable $40,000. Louisiana state 5%. Local illustration 4%. Credit $1,800 against the state line.
Credit comes off the state line, not off local, on this worksheet illustration. Combined $1,800 is well under $20,000.
Example 2: Why you cannot skip local on an isolated sale
Scenario: Isolated $20,000. You heard “private boats are tax-free in Louisiana.”
Confirm isolated local with the parish collector. The state 0% is not a local 0% unless that collector says so.
- Uniform Local Sales Tax Board — Tax Rate Lookup
- Form R-1331 — local line and cap split
LDWF title and registration fees
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries numbers motorboats, houseboats, and sailboats, with statutory exemptions in the registration law. Proof of tax paid is required to register. Titling is required when the boat is financed, titled in another state, homemade, has an incorrect HIN, or when you register an outboard of 25 horsepower or more, per the LDWF page summary.
| Coast Guard class | Length | Registration fee |
|---|---|---|
| Class A | 15 ft 11 in and under | $36 |
| Class I | 16 ft – 25 ft 11 in | $57 |
| Class II | 26 ft – 39 ft 11 in | $78 |
| 40 feet and longer | 40 ft or more | $99 |
| Title / lien item | Fee |
|---|---|
| New title | $26 |
| New transfer title | $26 |
| Record or release lien | $10 |
| Ownership transfer fee | $5 plus registration |
| Inspection if no HIN | $25 |
Example 1: Class A PWC, dealer $8,000, 5% local illustration
Scenario: Jet ski. LDR treats it as watercraft. Typical Class A length.
A PWC is not a tax-free toy. Same 5% state plus local. Registration is often the $36 Class A line.
Example 2: 20-foot Class I, financed, titled
Scenario: Lender records a lien. New title. Class I fee.
The $10 lien fee does not change the 5% tax. It is an LDWF paperwork charge on a financed hull.
- LDWF — Title or Register Your Boat — class table, title $26, lien $10, transfer $5, inspection $25
- La. R.S. 34:851.20 (via R-1331) — registration requires proof of taxes paid
Gifts, new residents, out-of-state, and documented vessels
Gift and inheritance are not spelled as automatic $0 on R-1331’s isolated-sale section. Isolated is a sale. A gift is a different file. Ask LDR and LDWF. Do not write $0 tax because it was “in the family.” Military personnel pages at LDR are general; no watercraft-specific automatic exemption is confirmed on R-1331.
A new resident who brings a boat into Louisiana is assessed on the lower of cost or fair market value when the boat is brought into the state, with credit for prior tax proved. Documented vessels still need tax proof for LDWF registration when they must register under the Louisiana numbering statute. Documentation is not a state-tax holiday.
Example 1: New resident — cost $22,000, FMV $15,000
Scenario: You move to Louisiana with a boat you bought for $22,000. Fair market value when it enters the state is $15,000.
LDR’s watercraft page is why the base is $15,000 rather than $22,000. Bring appraisals or valuation support the collector will accept.
Example 2: USCG documented boat still registering with LDWF
Scenario: Federally documented hull that Louisiana still requires you to register.
Pay the worksheet. Then register. Do not skip LDR because the Coast Guard already has a document.
- LDR Watercraft Sales Tax — new resident lower of cost or FMV; credit with proof
- La. R.S. 34:851.20 via R-1331 — tax proof for registration
How to calculate Louisiana boat tax
- Sales price of the watercraft plus installed accessories and motor if combined on the form.
- Subtract trade-in (Line 2).
- State tax = taxable × 5% for a purchase on or after January 1, 2025 (or the historical band that matches an older purchase date).
- Subtract credit for tax paid to another state from the state line.
- Local tax = taxable × the official lookup rate. Confirm isolated local with the parish if the sale is isolated.
- If combined (state net + local) exceeds $20,000 and you pay within 90 days, pay $10,000 state + $10,000 local.
- Add LDWF class fee, title $26 if required, lien $10 if financed, transfer $5 if that is the file.
Walkthrough 1: $30,000 dealer, 5% local, Class I, titled
Scenario: 2026 purchase. No trade. Combined under the cap.
This is acceptance-test file one: $30,000 at 5% plus 5% local equals $3,000 tax.
Walkthrough 2: Isolated $20,000, then a capped yacht
Scenario: Two different boats, two different R-1331 outcomes.
Isolated zeros state only. The cap zeros nothing; it truncates a giant combined bill to $20,000 on time.
- Form R-1331 worksheet order — price, trade-in, state, credit, local, cap
- LDWF fee table
What this page does not estimate
Parish rates are not listed as a named-parish table. Use the Uniform Local Sales Tax Board lookup. Gift and military watercraft tax are not auto-zeroed. Trailer registration belongs to the Office of Motor Vehicles, not this LDWF watercraft worksheet. The $20,000 cap is not applied after day 90 unless LDR says it still holds. Dealer documentation fees that are not on R-1331 or the LDWF table are not added. Commercial fishing exemptions need LDR documentation; they are not a silent toggle.
Example 1: Trailer bought with the boat
Scenario: $30,000 boat and a separate trailer invoice.
Keep two files. Do not run the trailer through Class I.
Example 2: Gift paperwork
Scenario: Family transfer with no sale price.
Isolated and gift are not the same box on R-1331.
Two complete buying examples
Complete example 1: 20-foot dealer boat, $30,000, 5% local, titled, no trade
Scenario: 2026 Louisiana dealer. Class I. New title. Paid to dealer because combined tax is under $20,000. Filed by the 20th of the following month.
Pay the dealer, keep R-1331 certification, then LDWF.
Complete example 2: Isolated private $20,000 plus a $500,000 capped yacht
Scenario: Two buyers. First is a neighbor’s 18-foot boat. Second is a yacht paid within 90 days.
The neighbor file is local-first. The yacht file is cap-first. Neither uses 4.45%.
FAQ
Is Louisiana boat tax still 4.45%?
Not on purchases on or after January 1, 2025. The current state rate is 5.00%. 4.45% was the July 1, 2018 through December 31, 2024 band.
Do private sales skip all Louisiana boat tax?
State tax can be 0% on a qualifying isolated occasional individual sale on or after July 1, 2016. Local tax may still apply. Ask the parish collector.
What is the $20,000 cap?
State plus local sales and use tax on boats registered in Louisiana shall not exceed $20,000 if paid within 90 days of purchase after credits. Amounts over the cap are collected as $10,000 state and $10,000 local.
When is R-1331 due?
By the 20th of the month following purchase.
How much is LDWF registration?
$36, $57, $78, or $99 by length class. Title is $26. Lien record or release is $10.
I am moving to Louisiana with a boat. What is the tax base?
Lower of cost or fair market value when the boat is brought into the state, then credit for tax already paid with proof.
Does a Coast Guard document skip LDR?
No. LDWF still needs tax proof when Louisiana requires registration.
FAQ example 1: Using 4.45% on a $30,000 2026 purchase
Scenario: Stale rate on a current dealer file with 5% local illustration.
LDR’s current rate is 5.00%. Use it.
FAQ example 2: Cap without the 50/50 split
Scenario: Combined would be $50,000. Someone applies a $20,000 cap all to the state.
The cap is not a state-only ceiling. It is a combined ceiling with an even split.
Before you sign
Use 5% state on a 2025 or 2026 purchase. Look up local tax. Subtract trade-in on the worksheet. Credit other-state tax on the state line. Watch the 90-day cap on a large combined bill. Isolated private sales zero state tax only; call the parish on local. File by the 20th of the following month. Take R-1331 proof to LDWF. Budget Class A $36, Class I $57, Class II $78, or $99 at 40 feet and up, plus $26 to title and $10 if a lien is recorded. Do not run a trailer through this watercraft form. Do not treat a gift as isolated 0% state without LDR. The dollars this page commits to are the 5% state rate, the $3,000 and $2,500 dealer illustrations, the $20,000 cap split, isolated state $0 with a $1,000 local illustration on $20,000, the $200 / $1,600 out-of-state credit file, the $15,000 new-resident base, and the LDWF fee table.
Complete reference list
- LDR Form R-1331 — Watercraft Sales Tax Payment Certification — 5% rate; worksheet; $20,000 cap; isolated 0% state; trade-in; credits
- LDR — Watercraft Sales Tax — process; new resident FMV or cost; dealer versus individual
- LDR FAQ — current sales tax rate on boat purchases — 5.00%
- Uniform Local Sales Tax Board — Tax Rate Lookup — local rates by address
- LDWF — Title or Register Your Boat — registration and title fee schedule
This page estimates Louisiana watercraft sales and use tax from official LDR and LDWF rules. The Louisiana Department of Revenue, parish tax collectors, and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries set the amount you pay.