Many Louisiana Residents Wrong In How Much They Think They Pay In Taxes

The latest report from the Louisiana Survey shows many residents are wrong when it comes to how much they pay in taxes. Director of LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab, Dr. Mike Henderson, said 46% of the respondents say the state income tax rates are higher than they were four years ago, and 32% say the rates are higher than last year, but the state income tax rate hasn’t changed in years.

“People believe those have gone up, that the legislature has raised those rates in the last four years, or even for some people they believe they have raised those rates in the last year.  That’s just simply not true,” said Henderson.

Henderson said many residents are also confused on the sales tax rate. He said 40% incorrectly believe the state sales tax rate is higher than one year ago. It actually went down about a half-a-cent. However, 60% correctly said the sales tax is higher than four years ago

“Most people do recognize that the state sales tax is higher now than what it was before the Edwards administration,” said Henderson.

During the Jindal administration, the state’s sales tax rate was four-percent, it’s now around 4.5-percent.

And Henderson said when asked about gasoline taxes, the average guess on what we pay in federal and state taxes is  79 cents per gallon when the actual rate is 38.5 cents.

“When you combine them all together, the average guess, if you will, about what the combined federal and state gasoline tax in Louisiana is, it’s about twice the actual rate,” said Henderson.