§25. Tax Administration
Section 25.(A) Immovables. (1) There shall be no forfeiture of property for
nonpayment of taxes. However, the assessment of ad valorem taxes and other impositions
on immovable property shall constitute a lien and privilege on the property assessed in favor
of the political subdivision to which taxes and other impositions are owed. The legislature
shall provide, by law, for the efficient administration of tax sales, which shall include at a
minimum:
(a) Imposition of interest on the delinquent taxes and other impositions not to exceed
one percent per month on a noncompounding basis.
(b) Imposition of penalty not to exceed five percent of the delinquent taxes and other
impositions.
(c) A period of time during which the lien cannot be enforced.
(d) A procedure for claiming the excess proceeds from the sale of the property, as
a result of the enforcement of the lien.
(2) The legislature may, by law, provide authority to the tax collector to waive
penalties for good cause.
(B) Movables; Tax Sales. (1) When taxes on movables are delinquent, the tax
collector shall seize and sell sufficient movable property of the delinquent taxpayer to pay
the tax, whether or not the property seized is the property which was assessed. Sale of the
property shall be at public auction, without appraisement, after ten days' advertisement,
published within ten days after date of seizure. It shall be absolute and without redemption.
(2) If the tax collector can find no corporeal movables of the delinquent to seize, the
tax collector may levy on incorporeal rights, by notifying the debtor thereof, or the tax
collector may proceed by summary rule in the courts to compel the delinquent to deliver for
sale property in his possession or under his control.
(C) Postponement of Taxes. The legislature may postpone the payment of taxes, but
only in cases of an emergency declared by the governor or a parish president pursuant to the
Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act, and may provide
for the levying, assessing, and collecting of such postponed taxes. In such case, the
legislature may authorize the borrowing of money by the state on its faith and credit, by bond
issue or otherwise, and may levy taxes, or apply taxes already levied and not appropriated,
to secure payment thereof, in order to create a fund from which loans may be made through
the Interim Emergency Board to the governing authority of the parish where taxes are
postponed. The money loaned shall be applied to and shall not exceed the deficiency in
revenue of the parish or a political subdivision therein or of which the parish is a part caused
by postponement of taxes. No loan shall be made to a parish governing authority without the
approval of the Interim Emergency Board.
Acts 1995, No. 1319, §1, approved Oct. 21, 1995, eff. Nov. 23, 1995; Acts 1997, No.
1495, §1, approved Oct. 3, 1998, eff. Nov. 5, 1998; Acts 2013, No. 436, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2015;
Acts 2024, No. 409, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2026.