SUBTITLE III. PROVISIONS RELATING TO AD VALOREM TAXES

CHAPTER 1. ANNUAL LEVY

NOTE: §1701 eff. until ratification of the const. amend. proposed by Acts 2024, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 1.

§1701. REPEALED BY ACTS 1972, EX. SESS., NO. 3, §1.

NOTE: §1701 eff. upon ratification of the const. amend. proposed by Acts 2024, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 1.

§1701. Definitions

            As used in this Subtitle, the following terms have the meaning ascribed to them in this Section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

            (1) "Actual cash value," or "actual cash valuation," mean the valuation at which any real or personal property is assessed for the purpose of taxation, after the assessing authorities have considered every element of value in arriving at such valuation. The price at which any piece of real estate or personal or movable property shall have been sold for cash in the ordinary course of business, free of all encumbrances, otherwise than at forced sale, shall be evidentiary only, and be considered with other factors in determining the actual cash value for assessment purposes.

            (2)(a) "Business inventory" means the aggregate of those items of tangible personal property that are held for sale in the ordinary course of business, are currently in the process of production for subsequent sale, or are to physically become a part of the production of goods.

            (b) "Business inventory" shall include the following:

            (i) Goods or commodities awaiting sale including but not limited to the merchandise of a retail or wholesale concern, the finished goods of a manufacturer, the commodities from farms, mines, and quarries, and goods that are used or trade-in merchandise and by-products of a manufacturer.

            (ii) Goods or commodities that are in the course of production.

            (iii) Raw materials and supplies that will be consumed in the Louisiana manufacturing process.

            (iv) Any item of tangible personal property owned by a retailer that is available for or subject to a short-term rental and that will subsequently or ultimately be sold by the retailer. For purposes of this Item, the term "short-term rental" means a rental of an item of tangible personal property for a period of less than three hundred sixty-five days, for an undefined period, or under an open-ended agreement.

            (c) "Business inventory" shall not include the following:

            (i) Oil stored in tanks held by a producer prior to the first sale of the oil, and oil otherwise exempt from ad valorem taxation pursuant to law.

            (ii) Items that would otherwise be considered inventory at any time following the initial lease by the taxpayer of such items. The provisions of this Item shall not include the rental of tangible personal property as provided for in Item (b)(iv) of this Paragraph.

            (iii) Items that would otherwise be considered inventory any time after the taxpayer has commenced depreciating the item on the taxpayer's federal tax return. The provisions of this Item shall not include the rental of tangible personal property as provided for in Item (b)(iv) of this Paragraph.

            (iv) Items that have been subject to use by the taxpayer when owned for more than eighteen months. The provisions of this Item shall not include the rental of tangible personal property as provided for in Item (b)(iv) of this Paragraph.

            (v) Items that are otherwise exempt from ad valorem taxation pursuant to law, including goods, commodities, or personal property stored in the state for use in interstate commerce.

            (3) "Credit" includes every claim and demand for money, labor, merchandise and other valuable things.

            (4) "Distributor" means a person engaged in the sale of products for resale or further processing for resale.

            (5) "Manufacturer" means one of the following:

            (a) A person engaged in the business of working raw materials into wares suitable for use or which gives new shapes, qualities, or combinations to matter which already has gone through some artificial process.

            (b) A person who meets the definition of "manufacturer" as provided in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph and who has claimed an ad valorem exemption pursuant to a contract with the State Board of Commerce and Industry as permitted by law for manufacturing establishments, during the taxable year in which the local inventory taxes were levied.

            (6) "Money" or "moneys" means and includes gold, silver and other coin, bills of exchange, bank bills or other bills or notes, authorized to be circulated as money, whether in possession or subject to the draft of the depositor or the person having the beneficial interest therein on demand.

            (7) "Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act" shall mean Title 43 U.S.C. §1331 et seq.

            (8) "Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Waters" shall mean all waters above all submerged land seaward and outside of the area of state submerged lands beneath navigable waters as defined in the Submerged Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. §1301 et seq. The term shall further mean all waters above Outer Continental Shelf submerged lands to which the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act applies.

            (9) "Person" or "persons", "taxpayer" or "taxpayers" includes firms, companies, associations and corporations; all words importing the masculine gender apply to females also, and all words in the plural number apply to single individuals in all cases in which the spirit and intent of this Chapter require it.

            (10) "Personal property" or "movable property" means and includes all things other than real estate which have any pecuniary value, all monies, credits, investments in bonds, stocks, franchises, shares in joint stock companies, or otherwise.

            (11) "Property" includes every form, character and kind of property, real, personal, and mixed, tangible and intangible, corporeal and incorporeal, and every share, right, title or interest therein or thereto, and every right, privilege, franchise, patent, copyright, trade-mark, certificate, or other evidence of ownership or interest; bonds, notes, judgments, credits, accounts, or other evidence of indebtedness, and every other thing of value, in possession, on hand, or under the control, at any time during the calendar year for which taxes are levied, within the State of Louisiana, of any person, firm, partnership, association of persons, or corporation, foreign or domestic whether the same be held, possessed, or controlled, as owner, agent, pledgee, mortgagee, or legal representative, or as president, cashier, treasurer, liquidator, assignee, master, superintendent, manager, sequestrator, receiver, trustee, stakeholder, depository, warehouseman, keeper, curator, executor, administrator, legatee, heir, beneficiary, parent, attorney, usufructuary, mandatary, fiduciary, or other capacity, whether the owner be known or unknown; except in the cases of fire, life, or other insurance companies, the notes, judgments, accounts, and credits of nonresident persons, firms, corporations, partnerships, associations, or companies doing business in the State of Louisiana, originating from the business done in this state, are hereby declared to be property with its situs within this state.

            (12) "Real estate" or "immovable property" means and includes not only land, city, town and village lots, but all things thereunto pertaining, and all structures and other appurtenances thereto, as pass to the vendee by the conveyance of the land or lot.

            (13) "Retailer" means a person engaged in the sale of products to the ultimate consumer. The term "retailer" shall also include a person engaged in the short-term rental of tangible personal property classified under code numbers 532412 and 532310 of the North American Industry Classification System published by the United States Bureau of the Census as the code numbers existed in 2022 and who is registered with the Department of Revenue, or its successor, as a retailer as defined in this Paragraph.

            (14) "Rolling stock" includes any kind of locomotive, car, or sleeping car used either for freight or passenger purposes, that may be operated over any railroad within this state.

            (15) "The Submerged Lands Act" shall mean Title 43 U.S.C. §1301 et seq.

            Amended by Acts 2024, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 12, §§1, 2A, eff. See Act.

NOTE: Former R.S. 47:1701 repealed by Acts 1972, Ex. Sess., No. 3, §1. New R.S. 47:1701 redesignated from R.S. 47:1702. Eff. upon ratification of the const. amend. proposed by Acts 2024, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 1.