Firearms, ammo and hunting supplies exempt from both state and local sales tax
If you’ve been waiting to buy that new gun and stock up on ammo for the upcoming hunting season, Louisiana’s Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday scheduled for Sept. 5-7 will be the perfect time to do it.
Unlike other sales tax holidays throughout the year that only exempt state sales tax, the annual three-day event every September provides an exemption from both the 4-percent state sales tax as well as all local sales taxes on individual consumer purchases of firearms, ammunition and eligible hunting supplies.
“We prepare for these three days like no other days of the year. We’ve got a larger staff on hand than we do the week leading up to Christmas,” said Lea Benoit, store manager for Bowie Outfitters in Baton Rouge. “It’s basically turned into our three biggest days of the year.”
Some manufacturers, like Browning, have picked up on the tax-free buying frenzy, and offer additional incentives to increase consumer savings over the long weekend, he said.
“So on a Browning firearm for example, the consumer’s not only saving the 9 percent because of the tax holiday, but he’s also saving an additional 8 percent through Browning,” Benoit said. “So if you come and buy a Browning firearm that weekend, you can save up to 17 percent, which is just unheard of for a firearm.
“It’s really sparked a huge participation with the manufacturers and vendors. They’re doing lots of incentives to go along with it to make it even better.”
At Bowie’s, every item in the store will be tax free – even non-hunting items, he said.
“What we do to make it easier and even better for our customers is we cover the tax on everything in the store. We cover the tax for you if it doesn’t qualify under the state’s tax free weekend,” Benoit said. “It’s the one time of the year everything in the store will be on sale, and that never happens except those three days.”
Savings will vary across the state because local taxing authorities have different percentages of taxes.
According to the Louisiana Department of Revenue’s Web site, hunting products eligible for the sales tax exemption include ATVs, apparel, archery items, shotguns, handguns, rifles, scopes, tree stands and more.
For a detailed list of eligible purchases, click here.
The Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday was created by the Louisiana Legislature in 2009, and always occurs on the first consecutive Friday through Sunday in September.