Louisiana Sales Tax Holiday, August 6 & 7, 2010
Annual Louisiana Sales Tax Holiday (August 6-7, 2010)
The 4% sales tax levied by the state of Louisiana shall not apply to the first $2500 of the sales price of any consumer purchases of tangible personal property that occur on August 6-7, 2010. Consumer purchases shall mean purchases of items of tangible personal property other than vehicles subject to license & title and meals furnished for consumption on the premises where purchased, including to-go orders.
The St. Charles Parish Council and the St. Charles Parish School Board passed a resolutions to suspend local sales tax on August 6 and 7. The local sales tax in St. Charles parish is 5%. St. Charles parish is the only parish in Louisiana that is participating in the sales tax holiday.
Press Release from Louisiana Department of Revenue – Tax Deduction for school tuition and more
Louisiana families are reminded to retain receipts as documentation for back-to-school items that might be eligible for the Louisiana School Tuition and Expense Tax Deduction.
The deduction applies to 50 percent of the cost of eligible items, up to $5,000 per student.
Eligible expenses include:
- Elementary and secondary school tuition
- Purchases of school uniforms required by the school for general day-to-day use.
- Purchases of textbooks, curricula, or other instructional materials required by the school.
- Purchases of school supplies required by the school
Homeschooling expenses are eligible as well.
In order to claim the deduction, you must be able to claim the student as a dependent on your Louisiana Individual Income Tax Return.
Deductions for eligible expenses paid during 2010 can be claimed on state tax returns due by May 16, 2011.
More information is available at www.revenue.louisiana.gov/schooldeduction.
Press Release
POST KATRINA – INTERNATIONAL VISITORS ARE ONCE AGAIN CHOOSING NEW ORLEANS AS A SHOPPING DESTINATION
From January through June of 2010, the Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Program recorded over $15 million in eligible purchases made by international visitors shopping in Louisiana. This data indicates an increase of over $2 million when compared to January through June of 2004, the year before Hurricane Katrina. 2009 also showed a very strong growth in international shoppers, when spending increased from $16 million in 2008 to $19 million in 2009.
The Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Program tracks the number of international visitors serviced, as well as the dollar amount spent on tax-free shopping purchases. Visitors receive a sales tax refund on shopping they do throughout the state at participating merchants, however, not on services used such as hotel stay, car rental, restaurants etc.
An economic impact study conducted by U.N.O in 2008 concluded that the overall impact of the Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Program was $45.1 million in 2007.
Not to be confused with “duty free” shops at international departure terminals in airports, “Louisiana Tax Free Shopping” is available at well known retail stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Best Buy, Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Gucci, The Gap, Sears, Wal-Mart, Coach, and many more. Tax Free members also include manufacturer outlets, other department stores, jewelry stores, art and antique dealers, computer and electrical appliance stores, as well as hundreds of smaller specialty shops throughout the state.
Since 1989, the Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Program has serviced over 600,000 international visitors and recorded over $500 million in international tax-free sales. The LTFS Program allows international tourists the opportunity to shop at over 800 stores throughout the state and apply for a tax refund IN CASH at any of our five refund centers.
After suffering setbacks from the lack of tourism following Hurricane Katrina, LTFS has once again hit its stride under the leadership of Executive Director Denise Thevenot, who stated, “We are finally seeing our Latin American tourists return to Louisiana to shop. Since January, Brazil posted the highest number of visitors utilizing the program, spending $2.2 million on tax-free shopping sales.”
Misconceptions and impact of oil spill on the Tourism Industry in New Orleans
New Orleans tackles tourists’ oil spill misperceptions
July 15th, 2010
New Orleans has a new ad campaign to convey it’s party-as-usual there….
New Orleans tackles tourists’ oil spill misperceptions
By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY
Now — just when N.O. is getting back on its feet — some potential visitors think the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is swirling nearby, and that’s dead wrong, says Kelly Schulz, vice president of PR for the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“We’re inland” from the Gulf of Mexico, she says, and not directly affected by the spill. Nevertheless, “tourism is an image-driven business,” she told me during a meeting today. “Some people think we have beaches, and CNN is broadcasting from New Orleans, so that is confusing.” So far, she says, there’s no wave of cancellations, but lots of calls inquiring about the spill. Some ask if you can smell oil in the city (you can’t, she says). It’s true that Gulf oysters are in short supply, but the city is importing the bivalves from elsewhere.
Schulz is out doing damage control, and the city has launched print and TV ads (using $5 million from BP oil company to assuage damage) that tell people The Big Easy is still letting the good times roll. “Things in New Orleans are NORMAL. Well, OUR normal,” one print ad with a couple sipping cocktails on the street reads, alluding to the city’s rowdy, party-hearty image.
New Orleans was on a roll last year with about 7.5 million visitors — about a million less than its record of 8.5 million pre-Katrina. The Saints won the Super Bowl this year, and the city reaped an image benefit from that, says Schulz, a sunny blonde wearing a rosy blazer and fleur-de-lis earrings in homage to New Orleans’ French heritage. She says the expanded World War II Museum is doing good business and the big Hyatt hotel slammed by Katrina is being redone in even more lavish style and is due to reopen in 2011.
Now, “we want to acknowledge what a tragedy (the oil spill is), but we don’t want it to be made worse” by damaging the city’s $5 billion tourism industry — its No. 1 source of revenue. New Orleans has had so much bad luck, she says. And as the fifth anniversary of Katrina approaches, it needs a break
Readers, are you less or more likely to visit N.O. because of the oil spill? Have you been down since Katrina ,and is it what it used to be?
Sponsors
Louisiana Tax Free Shopping would like to thank their sponsors for their 20th Year Celebration
Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Sponsors
Louisiana Tax Free Shopping would like to thank the sponsors of their 20th Year Anniversary Celebration
Messages from Louisiana Officals
I’m proud to welcome you to Louisiana. Whether you are here for business or for pleasure, I hope you will enjoy all that our great state has to offer. In Louisiana, you will find a rich cultural heritage that is celebrated in our food, our music, and our traditions. We have a vibrant arts community, museums that showcase our unique history, and a state park system that captures Louisiana’s natural beauty and offers a variety of recreational resources.You will also find in Louisiana some of the nation’s fastest-growing companies, cutting-edge biomedical research and development, a business friendly environment and a productive work force. Louisiana is a great place to visit, live, work and play. We hope you think so, too.
Mitchell J. Landrieu
Lieutenant Governor
As Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Revenue, I welcome you to Louisiana’s Tax Free Shopping Program. The program is designed to boost foreign tourism and to complement every attraction in our state by issuing refunds of sales tax paid on retail purchases made by international visitors to Louisiana. Our state was the first state in the nation to approve a tax-free shopping program for foreign visitors. We warmly welcome all international visitors to our wonderful state and invite you to shop Tax Free at more than 1,000 stores statewide.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Bridges, Secretary
Louisiana Department of Revenue
Attention: Fraudulent Checks
Fraudulent checks with the Louisiana Tax Free Shopping name and address are traveling around the country. Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Commission ONLY reimburses checks to international visitors to Louisiana on shopping done within the state, where specific vouchers are obtained. Any check you may have with our name and address on it for any other reason is non valid and will not clear our checking account.
For further information, please feel free to contact us directly at
(504)467-0723.
Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Program opens new refund center
New location inside Macy’s Lakeside
A new refund center is available for international visitors to Louisiana who wish to take advantage of the Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Program. The new location is the state’s fifth location where international visitors can claim a sales tax refund for eligible purchases from Louisiana retailers.
“International visitors are finding less time at the airport to claim refunds, forcing them in some cases to apply by mail. This new refund center is conveniently located in Jefferson Parish to make this process easier for the visitor” stated LTFS director Denise Thevenot. “Tax Free Shopping done by International Visitors to Louisiana was over 16 million last year, 9 million of that was done in Jefferson Parish.”
Macy’s Lakeside General Manager Brian Williams said, “We are pleased to offer our out-of-state and international visitors this additional service, saving them time on their travels, by allowing them to process their tax refund as their gifts are being wrapped, or while continuing to shop throughout the store. We are pleased to offer international shoppers the chance to get their refund in U.S. dollars while still in the midst of their vacation.”
The new refund center is located on the third floor of Macy’s in Lakeside Mall, near the gift-wrapping counter and opened for business on Monday, October 5.
The Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Program has four other redemption centers throughout the state:
· Downtown New Orleans Refund Center – Riverwalk Marketplace on Poydras Street
· Lafayette Refund Center – Capital One Bank on Vermillion Street
· Shreveport Refund Center – Capital One Bank on Travis Street
· Airport Refund Center – Louis Armstrong International Airport.
For more information, please contact:
Denise Thevenot
Executive Director
Louisiana Tax Free Shopping
504.458.8258
Denise Thevenot
Executive Director
Louisiana Tax Free Shopping
Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Program Celebrates Twenty Years of Serving International Visitors
BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Program (LTFS) celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2009. Louisiana was the first state to initiate a program of this type, offering international visitors tax-free shopping while traveling within the state.
The LTFS Program gives international visitors the opportunity to make tax-free purchases at more than 900 participating retailers throughout Louisiana. Visitors enjoy the convenience of applying for the sales tax refund in cash at four locations throughout the state.
Since 1989, more than 600,000 international customers have taken advantage of Louisiana Tax Free Shopping and recorded over $500 million in international tax-free sales. Hotel, restaurant, and service sales taxes are not refundable. In February of 2008 the University of New Orleans conducted a study to determine the economic impact of LTFS on Louisiana’s economy. It determined that LTFS generated $1.4 million in new state sales tax revenue in 2007. In addition, the program’s total economic impact on the State of Louisiana was $45.1 million. The figure includes both direct and indirect spending by international visitors.
“There is no doubt that Louisiana Tax Free Shopping has been a boon for our state’s economy,” says Cynthia Bridges, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Revenue. “The program’s 20-year record of success speaks for itself.”
The Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Program was created by Act 535 of 1988, introduced by state senators Hank Lauricella, Ben Bagert, and Ken Hollis, and by state representatives Jim Donelon, Woody Jenkins and Charles Lancaster. LTFS Refund Centers processed the first sales tax refunds for international visitors in November 1989.
“This groundbreaking program promotes both tourism and retail trade globally for the state and has become one more reason for international travelers to visit Louisiana,” said Eugene Schreiber, Managing Director of the World Trade Center of New Orleans and chairman of the Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Commission since its inception.
For more information, please contact:
Denise Thevenot, Executive Director, LTFS
(504) 568-5248 phone
(504) 458-8258 cell
Mr. Eugene Schreiber, Chairman, Louisiana Tax Free Shopping Commission
(504) 529-1601 ext. 227 phone
