louisiana taxes question (Bossier City: sales, to rent, buying a home)

[rbayle]

HI. I am thinking of buying a home around alexandria. I am wondering about the property taxes. Does LA. have homestead? If I buy a $400,000 home, are my taxes going to be outrageous? Also, what about sales tax? I will be so close to Tx. should I cross the line for major purchases, or which state has lower sales tax? Mainly, I am wondering about the propery taxes-if I cough up the money for the home, is that the end of the story-or will I keep paying for it all my life????

[hindsight2020]

My understanding is that property taxes in Louisiana are low. I think it's based on a millage system where you multiply the county's millage by 10% of the assessed value of the home. There is a homestead exemption of $7500 if I recall correctly. So subtract 7500 from the initial 10% of the property value and then multiply the resulting number by the millage to get the total annual property tax. So for an assessed value of 400K and assuming (I don't know the actual number) for alexandria a millage of 100 (I bet it's lower, it's like 83 for Bossier City) the that is 400,000 x .10 = 40,000 ...minus 7,500 = 32,500 .. so 32,500 x (100) x ( .001) = $3,250 annual taxes...not bad for 400K, try that in Texas. Granted, you don't pay income tax in TX, you'll have to do the homework on where's the breakeven point in total tax liability between TX and LA.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Remember what you buy in Tx has to be picked up in Tx or it gets taxed for LA sales tax. Fine for smaller stuff, but if you have to rent a truck and drive over there/back, you might as well pay the sales tax. And you will on a car, to get the LA license plate.