Louisiana tips tax calculator: three bills, no law

Louisiana debated three different tips deductions in 2025 and enacted none, so tips stay in the new flat 3% base — and with no state minimum wage law, the FLSA sets tipped pay.

Your Louisiana tips

State where you work Qualified tips this year

Voluntary cash and card tips on your W-2, 1099 or Form 4137 — not service charges.

Tax year

2025202620272028

Filing status Other income in your AGI

Wages without the tips, plus any other income (both spouses if filing jointly).

Your occupation The 71 Treasury Tipped Occupation Codes in the final rule (TD 10044).

How you are paid

Employee (W-2) Self-employed (1099)

More options

Itemized deductions (if larger than the standard deduction)

State marginal rate override (%) Leave blank to use the state’s published rate for your bracket.

Federal income tax saved in 2026Deduction $18,000 at 12% $2,160

$18,000 of the $25,000 cap used (72%)

Qualified tips	$18,000
After the $25,000 cap	$18,000
Income phase-out (MAGI $48,000)	$0
Tips deduction	$18,000
Federal tax before → after	$3,580 → $1,420
Social Security & Medicare still due on tips	$1,377
Louisiana 2026: Tips stay taxable in this state	$0
Total income tax saved	$2,160

What the estimate leaves out

The bills that did not pass

HB 195 would have allowed up to $25,000 of reported tip income; HB 198 limited the deduction to joint filers under $130,000 of AGI and others under $65,000; HB 414 would have deducted all tip income with no limit. None appears among the enacted changes the Department of Revenue explains in Revenue Information Bulletin 25-012, which describes Act 11 of the 2024 special session replacing the graduated brackets with a flat 3% rate from 2025.

Louisiana figures

Cash wage / minimum	$2.13 / $7.25
In force	July 1, 2026
Next change	none scheduled
Tipped threshold	More than $30 a month in tips
Tips on the 2025 return	tips stay taxable in this state. Several 2025 bills (HB 195, HB 198, HB 414) proposed a tips deduction; none is in the Department’s summary of enacted individual income tax changes. Source: Louisiana Department of Revenue
Tips on the 2026 return	tips stay taxable in this state. We found no enacted Louisiana tips deduction for 2026. Source: Louisiana Department of Revenue

No state minimum wage

Louisiana is one of the states with no minimum wage statute. FLSA-covered employers pay at least $2.13 in cash and must make up any shortfall to $7.25; unpaid make-up wages are pursued through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

A New Orleans server

$24,000 of French Quarter tips produce a $24,000 deduction and $2,710 of federal savings; Louisiana taxes them at 3%. A 32-hour week with $180 of tips at $2.13 cash leaves $0 owed.

Check a Louisiana workweek under the FLSA

Employer make-up owed$2.13 cash wage + tips must reach $7.25 an hour. $14

Minimum for the hours	$232
Cash wage paid	$68
Tips counted toward the minimum	$150
Your effective hourly pay	$7.25

How the make-up rule works

Where these figures come from

Federal rules: how the deduction works. Nearby: Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi.

Figures verified against primary sources on October 5, 2026