Collecting sales tax revenue could bring Louisiana $300 million dollars

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - Louisiana voters will soon decide how the state collects sales taxes after the Louisiana legislature passed a constitutional amendment to centralize the state sales tax system.

Each day hundreds of thousands of people fire up their computers and open their internet browser to begin shopping online, and Louisiana could soon benefit from those sales.

“When you pay a sales tax online, it goes someplace,” Chuck Owen, the State Representative for District 30, said. “And Louisiana did not have a centralized place for sales tax to go to, and we’ve actually been leaving a lot of money on the table.”

Rep. Owen says Louisiana could be leaving three million to four million dollars on the table.

“I mean if folks in this district are paying the tax,” Mike Johnson, the State Representative for District 27, said. “I want them to get the benefits. It can do a lot.”

Rep. Johnson says the money could help with roads, bridges and also the education system.

“What we would hope is that folks would shop local,” Rep. Johnson said. “But we know that particularly after this last year, it has become more and more a part of our consumer practice.”

Researchers for the bigcommerce.com project say the trend will continue, and eCommerce sales will surpass $740 billion in 2023.

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