Withholding Tax

Who Is Required To Withhold?

Every employer who has resident or nonresident employees performing services (except employees exempt from income tax withholding) within Louisiana is required to withhold Louisiana income tax based on the employee's withholding exemption certificate. Wages of Louisiana residents performing services in other states are subject to withholding of Louisiana income tax if the wages are not subject to withholding of net income tax by the state in which the services are performed.

Who Must File?

Every employer who withheld or was required to withhold income tax from wages must file the Employer’s Quarterly Return of Louisiana Withholding Tax (Form L-1). Each return covers one quarterly taxable period and must be filed by the filing deadline. A quarterly return must be filed even if no taxes are withheld during the quarter or if wages paid to employees were not sufficient to require withholding.

When and How To Remit Tax Withheld

Payments must be made according to your mandated payment frequency. Payments for the last period of the quarter must be submitted with the L-1 return. All other payments must be submitted with an L-1V payment voucher.

Each employer who withholds from the combined wages of all employees less than $500 per month is required to pay on a quarterly basis. Each employer who withholds from the combined wages of all employees at least $500 but less than $5,000 per month is required to pay on a monthly basis. Each employer who withholds from the combined wages of all employees $5,000 per month or more must pay on a semimonthly basis. Payments that exceed $5,000 must be made electronically.

Filing an Amended Return

Form L-1 is used to reconcile the payments made within this quarter to the actual amount of taxes withheld. Adjustments for prior quarters cannot be made in the current quarter. If in reviewing your prior quarter records you discover an error in reporting tax due, it will be necessary to file amended returns for all quarters in which errors were made. When filing an amended return, you must use the correct form for the quarter being amended, report the corrected amounts, and mark the “Amended Return” box. Below are the instructions to file an amended Form L-1 Lines 1 - 5.

1. Line 1-3 – Enter the correct amount of Louisiana income tax withheld or required to be withheld from the wages of your employees for the appropriate month.
2. Line 4 – Add Lines 1, 2 and 3. This is the total amount of taxes withheld for the quarter.
3. Line 5 – Calculate the total amount of withholding taxes that was remitted to the department during the quarter.