NOTE: Art. VII, Sec. 25 eff. until Jan. 1, 2026, upon ratification of the const. amend. proposed by Acts 2024, No. 409.

§25. Tax Sales

            Section 25.(A) Immovables. (1) There shall be no forfeiture of property for nonpayment of taxes. However, at the expiration of the year in which the taxes are due, the collector, without suit, and after giving notice to the delinquent in the manner provided by law, shall advertise for sale the property on which the taxes are due. The advertisement shall be published in the official journal of the parish or municipality, or, if there is no official journal, as provided by law for sheriffs' sales, in the manner provided for judicial sales. On the day of sale, the collector shall sell the portion of the property which the debtor points out. If the debtor does not point out sufficient property, the collector shall sell immediately the least quantity of property which any bidder will buy for the amount of the taxes, interest, and costs. The sale shall be without appraisement. A tax deed by a tax collector shall be prima facie evidence that a valid sale was made.

            (2) If property located in a municipality with a population of more than four hundred fifty thousand persons as of the most recent federal decennial census fails to sell for the minimum required bid in the tax sale, the collector may offer the property for sale at a subsequent sale with no minimum required bid. The proceeds of the sale shall be applied to the taxes, interest, and costs due on the property, and any remaining deficiency shall be eliminated from the tax rolls.

            (B) Redemption. (1) The property sold shall be redeemable for three years after the date of recordation of the tax sale, by paying the price given, including costs, five percent penalty thereon, and interest at the rate of one percent per month until redemption.

            (2) In the city of New Orleans, when such property sold is residential or commercial property which is abandoned property as defined by R.S. 33:4720.12(1) or blighted property as defined by Act 155 of the 1984 Regular Session, it shall be redeemable for eighteen months after the date of recordation of the tax sale by payment in accordance with Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph.

            (3) In any parish other than Orleans, when such property sold is vacant residential or commercial property which has been declared blighted, as defined by R.S. 33:1374(B)(1) on January 1, 2013, or abandoned, as defined by R.S. 33:4720.59(D)(2) on January 1, 2013, it shall be redeemable for eighteen months after the date of recordation of the tax sale by payment in accordance with Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph.

            (C) Annulment. No sale of property for taxes shall be set aside for any cause, except on proof of payment of the taxes prior to the date of the sale, unless the proceeding to annul is instituted within six months after service of notice of sale. A notice of sale shall not be served until the final day for redemption has ended. It must be served within five years after the date of the recordation of the tax deed if no notice is given. The fact that taxes were paid on a part of the property sold prior to the sale thereof, or that a part of the property was not subject to taxation, shall not be cause for annulling the sale of any part thereof on which the taxes for which it was sold were due and unpaid. No judgment annulling a tax sale shall have effect until the price and all taxes and costs are paid, and until ten percent per annum interest on the amount of the price and taxes paid from date of respective payments are paid to the purchaser; however, this shall not apply to sales annulled because the taxes were paid prior to the date of sale.

            (D) Quieting Tax Title. The manner of notice and form of proceeding to quiet tax titles shall be provided by law.

            (E) Movables; Tax Sales. 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.

            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.

            (F) Postponement of Taxes. The legislature may postpone the payment of taxes, but only in cases of overflow, general conflagration, general crop destruction, or other public calamity, 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 the calamity occurs. 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.

NOTE: Art. VII, Sec. 25 eff. Jan 1, 2026, upon ratification of the const. amend. proposed by Acts 2024, No. 409.

§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.