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Tax season has begun: La. revenue secretary shares tips to make filing easier

Form 1040 is used by US taxpayers to file an annual income tax return.
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Getty Images/Canva
Form 1040 is used by US taxpayers to file an annual income tax return.

Tax season is underway in Louisiana, and you can file your 2024 state tax return online or by paper.

Reporter Brooke Thorington spoke with Louisiana Department of Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson to get some tips for staying on top of filing.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Thorington: Tell us some tips for residents who need to file for their taxes and what's the best way to go about it? 

Nelson: We usually encourage everybody to file electronically if you can. You can go to our website revenue.louisiana.gov and you can file for free.

You can go in there and find the links to create an account at no charge. Or you can use any kind of normal tax software and submit electronically. That gets you your return the quickest, in four weeks or less.

Or you can also go to our website and you can download the paper forms and file by mail. If that's what you prefer when you submit those, you have about eight weeks before you’ll receive that refund.

It does take a little bit longer if you file paper. We accept either of those.

Thorington: If you need assistance filing for your state income taxes, what's the best resource for that?

Nelson: You can go online, just look up the Louisiana Department of Revenue, and you can go to our website. You can call us and you can find our contact information there. Or you can email us either way with your question, or you can talk to your CPA, or your tax professional.

But if you go online to our website you’ll find a bunch of different options. You can also walk into any of our offices and we have staff available to help answer questions.

Thorington: With the hiring freeze that's been put in place at the IRS, could that possibly create a hurdle for filers here in Louisiana with their federal and or state returns?

Nelson: The IRS doesn't impact us for your state return. I don't know if that could possibly impact your federal filing or getting your federal questions answered. But it's not going to impact us on a state level because we operate independently from the IRS.

Thorington: What’s the deadline to file your Louisiana tax return?

Nelson: The filing deadline is May 15th and you can get an automatic extension until November 15th. But you do need to pay by May 15th to avoid penalties. But you will get an automatic extension to file, but you do need to pay by May 15th of this year.

Thorington: In November, the legislature overhauled the state's tax code, but those changes will not impact how we file for the 2024 taxes, correct?

Nelson: That's correct. As part of our big tax reform package, we cut income taxes significantly by over a billion dollars, and that will be an income tax cut for everyone. But that will be for this year in 2025. So the taxes you're filing right now are going to be for the last year, 2024 and so that will still be at the higher rates.

But the good news is this time next year, you'll be paying significantly less in income taxes.

Thorington: So what changes will residents see next year if we can kind of give just a little brief overhaul of what they'll see when they file for 2025 taxes this time next year? 

Nelson: So currently when you're filing your taxes this year for last year, 2024, the top rate is actually 4.25%.

And the standard deduction is $4,500 per person. That means you start paying tax when you get over $4,500. So, with the new tax changes that will go into effect are in fact right now in 2025 and that will be what you pay your taxes next year, you're going to be paying at a top rate of 3%.

So it's a pretty big reduction. That's the second lowest rate in the country. And then you're also going to have a $12,500 standard deduction. Which means you won't pay state income tax until you make more than $12,500. That's a significant increase from the $4,500 it is now. So that gives a lot of relief, for that first $12,500, or the first $12,500 will not be subject to state income tax.

Thorington: Will we also see less money taken out of our checks this year, or will that only be when you file taxes?  

Nelson: That's correct. So starting your paychecks, after Jan. 1, you should see an increase in your check by a smaller withholding. So, when your employers are taking state tax out of your paycheck, then you should get a little bit more and take a little bit more home with you because those tax rates have gone down.

Those withholding tables have been adjusted, and so you should see an increase in your take home pay from those decreases in those income tax rates.

For more information, visit revenue.louisiana.gov.

Before joining WRKF as the Capitol Access reporter, Brooke was the Assistant News Director at Louisiana Radio Network, where she also reported on statewide news and covered the state legislature.