The rules where you work $17
A first 30 days checklist, everyday forms, licenses, workers’ comp and taxes for Louisiana, with a yearly calendar. Instant PDF download.
Buy the packet: $17Digital product, all sales final. Informational only, not legal, financial, tax or business advice.
What Louisiana expects from a new trade business
Louisiana's licensing board reaches a lot further down than most states, and its rules got tighter in 2025 and 2026. Home improvement jobs of $7,500 or more need at least a registration. And the lien clock depends on whether a notice of contract was filed and whether the owner filed a notice of termination.
$7,500 and up is where the state steps in
The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors sets these lines by project value, which counts labor, materials, rentals and all direct and indirect expenses:
- Home improvement of $7,500 or more, but under $50,000: home improvement registration or a license.
- Residential construction or home improvement of $50,000 or more: residential license. Any structural work on a home also calls for it.
- Commercial, $50,000 or more: commercial license.
- Electrical, mechanical or plumbing, $10,000 or more: a license for that work, on any kind of job.
- Residential roofing, $7,500 or more: a roofing or residential construction classification, since January 2026.
The statute has an exemption list. It includes painting inside a home or landscaping, if that's the only work you do. A job split up to avoid a license gets treated as one job. And if you needed a license and didn't have one, you can't file a lien on that contract.
Since August 1, 2026, residential and home improvement applicants need $500,000 in liability coverage, up from $100,000. Home improvement also requires $25,000 net worth, and residential or commercial requires $50,000. Plumbing moves to this board on January 1, 2027. A construction attorney can check where your work falls.
Source: LSLBC, types of licenses · LSLBC, licensing requirements brochure · LSLBC memo, changes to contractor licensing laws (Nov. 1, 2026) · La. R.S. 37:2150.1, definitions and project value · La. R.S. 37:2157, exemptions · La. R.S. 37:2158, divided contracts · La. R.S. 37:2159, no lien without a license
Who to call: an attorney near you
Owners can opt out in writing. Your subs' workers can land on you.
The comp law reaches people working in your trade or business, with room for owners to step out. A sole proprietor, a partner, an LLC member with at least 10%, or a corporate president, vice president, secretary or treasurer with at least 10% of the stock can elect out by written agreement with the insurer. That election applies across the whole business.
Hire someone to do part of work that's your trade, and you can become a statutory employer. The statute says that relationship exists when the work is contemplated by or included in a contract. Where it isn't, it takes a written contract that recognizes it. When it applies, you can owe comp to his workers as if you employed them directly. You can look to him for indemnity, and you get the law's exclusive remedy protection.
A construction attorney can tell you how that fits your jobs, and an insurance agent who writes contractors can tell you how this affects your premium.
Source: La. R.S. 23:1035, employees covered · La. R.S. 23:1061, principal contractors
Who to call: an insurance agent near you
Getting paid: the Private Works Act has moving deadlines
Louisiana calls it a privilege, and the deadline turns on what's been filed:
- Default: file your statement of claim within 60 days of a notice of termination, or of substantial completion or abandonment if no notice was filed. A GC under $100,000 who skipped the notice of contract lands here.
- Sub or supplier with a notice of contract on file: 30 days after a notice of termination, or 6 months after completion if none, and deliver a copy to the owner.
- GC whose privilege was preserved by a notice of contract: 60 days after termination notice, or 7 months after completion if none.
- Residential sub, seller or equipment lessor with no timely notice of contract: give the owner notice of nonpayment before the 60 days run out and at least 10 days before filing, and the window stretches to 70 days.
- Sue within 1 year of filing. Also record a notice of pendency of action within that year, or the filed statement stops affecting third parties.
A GC on a contract above $100,000 gets no privilege unless the notice of contract was filed on time. On home improvements to an owner's own single-family home, give the owner the Notice of Lien Rights before or when you sign. Skip it and a lien gets filed on the home, and the owner can sue you for damages and attorney fees. A construction attorney can set these up.
Source: La. R.S. 9:4811, notice of contract · La. R.S. 9:4822, preservation of claims · La. R.S. 9:4823, extinguishment · La. R.S. 9:4852, notice of lien rights · La. R.S. 9:4833, notice of pendency of action · La. R.S. 9:4851, residential home improvements · La. R.S. 9:4855, owner's damages
Who to call: an attorney near you
Sales tax: you're usually the consumer of your materials
Louisiana presumes that materials sold to you for building, altering or repairing real property are sold to a consumer, not for resale. So you pay the tax at the supplier. The state rate is 5%, and parishes and cities add their own.
You can rebut that presumption with credible evidence, such as a writing signed by your customer showing the items transferred to the customer before they became part of the building.
Labor to build, install, remodel or repair real property is generally not taxed. Don't add sales tax to it. The Department of Revenue lists that as a common mistake. Labor to repair equipment and other movable property generally is taxable.
Buy out of state without paying Louisiana tax and you may owe use tax. The Department has proposed changes to this rule, so have a CPA who works with contractors confirm the current text before you change how you bill.
Source: LAC 61:I.4372, Louisiana Department of Revenue · Louisiana Department of Revenue, sales tax on labor · Louisiana Department of Revenue, general sales and use tax
Who to call: a CPA or tax pro near you
LLC, sole proprietor, or S-corp?
Louisiana's Secretary of State raised fees on October 1, 2026. Forming an LLC is now $125 (it was $100), and that includes the Initial Report. The annual report is $35 (it was $30), due on your anniversary date. There's no franchise tax for LLCs.
Louisiana taxes individual income at a flat 3%, in place since 2025. Pass-through profit lands there.
When an S-corp starts saving you money depends on what the business clears after your floor rate. Bring your numbers to a CPA and have them run it.
Source: Louisiana SOS fee changes, effective Oct. 1, 2026 · Louisiana Department of Revenue, income tax rates
Who to call: a CPA or tax pro near you
Education, not legal or tax advice. Rules change. Confirm anything here with a licensed pro in Louisiana before you rely on it. Last updated November 2026.