Louisiana Sales Tax on Pet Services: Grooming, Boarding, Products, Local Rates and How to Register

The short version is that Louisiana taxes services by category, not across the board. State law, at R.S. 47:301.3, defines which services are taxable, and the Department of Revenue now points owners to that statutory list as the place to start. A dog walk, a pet-sitting visit, a bath and trim, a training session or a weekly yard cleanup is not one of the named categories.

That matters for your prices. Adding tax to a charge that isn't taxable overcharges your customers; skipping tax on something that is taxable leaves the shortfall with you. The fix for both is to know what you sell, line by line, and get the Department's answer in writing for anything near a category.

Rate and taxability are also two different questions. The 2025 rate change raised the state rate; it did not add pet services to the taxable list.

The Department of Revenue lists these ten categories:

1. Furnishing of sleeping rooms.
2. Furnishing of admissions.
3. Parking.
4. Printing and copying.
5. Laundry, cleaning, pressing, alteration, repair and dyeing.
6. Furnishing of cold-storage space and preparation of property for storage.
7. Repairs and maintenance of tangible personal property and digital products.
8. Telecommunications.
9. Prewritten computer-software access.
10. Information services.

The statute handles cable television, direct-to-home satellite, video programming and satellite radio separately for state-tax purposes, so those sit outside the ten.

Most of these will never come near a dog business. A boarding facility should read the sleeping-room wording carefully, and a business that charges admission to a public event may need to think about admissions. Laundry or cleaning charges can raise a question, but ordinary grooming should not be labeled taxable just because the word "cleaning" appears in the category. Storage matters only if you furnish qualifying storage space, and repairs only if you repair someone's property. Retail food, shampoo, treats and accessories are goods, handled under the product rules.

None of these six services is named in the Department's ten-category list. I still wouldn't print "tax exempt" on a price sheet, and I wouldn't add tax either, until the Department has looked at your actual menu. The way you describe a service, what is included, and how you bill it can all change the answer.

To ask, contact the Louisiana Department of Revenue's Tax Policy and Planning Division at the sales-policy email on its Policy Contacts page. Describe each service the way your customer sees it: what you do, where you do it, what is included, and how it appears on the invoice.

If your question needs a formal answer, the Department also issues Private Letter Rulings. The request has to come from an identified taxpayer or an authorized representative, and it must include the specific question, the complete facts, the relevant law, supporting documents and the required disclosures. A ruling binds the Department only for the business that asked, and only on the facts it gave. Another groomer can't rely on your ruling, and you can't rely on theirs. Keep whatever written answer you receive with your tax records.

This question is about how boarding fees are classified, and it matters because the word "suite" shows up on a lot of kennel menus. Under R.S. 47:301.3, the sleeping-room category covers the rental or furnishing of "sleeping rooms, cottages, cabins, rooms, suites, condominiums, townhouses, rental houses, or other accommodations" by hotels, lodging houses, tourist camps, property-management companies, accommodation intermediaries or other providers of accommodations to transient guests. The Department's sleeping-room guidance describes the category the same way, as accommodations sold to transient guests.

That wording is written around people staying in lodging. Whether a dog run, crate, kennel suite or daycare space fits it is a fact question. So, don't assume every boarding fee is taxable, and don't assume none are. Send the Department your actual arrangement: what you call the space, your boarding contract, a sample invoice and what the fee covers. Then price from the written answer.

Products are the simpler part. Louisiana taxes retail sales of tangible personal property unless an exemption applies, so shampoo, treats, food, collars, leashes, toys and accessories you sell to a customer are taxable goods. The Department's general sales and use tax page also says the taxable amount includes services the seller provides in connection with the sale of the goods. In practice, that means you shouldn't fold a bottle of shampoo into an unexplained grooming total. Put it on its own line.

A clean mixed invoice shows:

• The grooming or other service.
• Each product sold, on its own line.
• Any separately stated delivery or other charge.
• The taxable subtotal.
• State and local tax applied to that subtotal.
• The total paid.

Packages that bundle boarding, grooming, food and retail items are where classification gets harder. If you sell bundles, send the package description to the Department along with your menu, and ask how it should be billed.

If you buy shampoo or treats to resell, look at the resale-certificate information on the Department's tax forms page and ask the Department how it applies to your purchases.

The Department of Revenue lists the state sales-tax rate as 5 percent beginning January 1, 2025, subject to the limitations the Department states; it was 4.45 percent before that. Local taxes are additional, and Louisiana has no single combined rate you can safely use everywhere. The local layer can include parishwide, municipal, school, district and other components.

To find the rate for an address:

• Use the Louisiana Uniform Local Sales Tax Board lookup through Parish E-File's Sales Tax Explorer, which searches by address or coordinates.
• Check the Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators (LATA) taxpayer resources, which include a parish map, jurisdiction list, city-to-parish index and rate lookup.
• Call the parish or municipal collector for that jurisdiction to confirm the official rate, any exemptions and how they administer the tax.

Mobile groomers and walkers who work at many addresses should ask the Department and the local collector which address sets the rate for each sale before setting up their invoicing.

Register before you sell anything taxable. The Department's business registration page sends owners to LaTAP:

1. Go to LaTAP.
2. Select "Register My Business."
3. Enter your business, ownership, location and tax-account information.
4. Choose only the tax accounts your business is legally required to keep.
5. Save your registration certificate and location details.
6. Use LaTAP to file, pay, check balances, read notices and manage accounts.
7. Register or file with local jurisdictions as they require.

Registering your business name with the Secretary of State does not set up your sales-tax account; those are separate steps. The Secretary of State's geauxBIZ tool helps you manage business filings and tax-account registrations in one place.

For the local side, Parish E-File lets you file state and multiple parish and city returns electronically in one place. The Department says returns and payments are due by the 20th day of the month following the reporting period, whether that period is a month or a quarter.

Keep invoices, receipts, purchase records, filed returns and any written tax guidance. IRS Publication 334 notes that sales tax you collect for the government is not business income, one more reason to show it as its own line.

When you buy taxable equipment, such as crates, grooming tables, dryers or a computer, from an out-of-state seller that doesn't collect Louisiana tax, the Department's consumer use tax page says use tax may be due. Purchases can be reported on Form R-1035, generally by the 20th of the month after the purchase month. That page also describes a separate option on individual returns, so confirm with the Department which filing method fits a business.

You may also see R.S. 47:302(K) cited. Subsection K sets an additional tax, collected in place of local tax, for certain remote sellers that qualify as Louisiana dealers only through regular or systematic solicitation. It is not one universal rate you apply to every equipment purchase. Track your out-of-state purchases and ask the Department how to report them.

Sales tax is one office. Your permits come from others, and rules differ by parish and city. The SBA's Louisiana district office says licensing and zoning are usually handled by state and local departments and advises contacting the local business-license office where you'll operate.

Ask these questions before you open or expand:

1. Which office issues the occupational or business license?
2. Is your type of business allowed at this address?
3. Do you need a home-occupation or zoning approval?
4. Is a conditional-use, building, fire or occupancy permit required?
5. Are there limits on the number of animals, kennels, noise, waste or hours?
6. Is a local kennel license required?
7. Which local collector handles sales-tax registration and returns?

Start with the city or parish business-license office, the planning or zoning department, the fire marshal where it applies, and animal control or the parish kennel-license office. The geauxBIZ checklist can point you to likely offices, but the local office has the final word.

On kennels, R.S. 3:2772 lets a municipality or parish set kennel-license fees, with these minimums for dogs over six months old:

Local ordinances may control the actual requirement and fee, so confirm with your parish or city.

Insurance is a separate decision from tax. It manages risk; it doesn't change how a service is classified.

These short answers cover the questions I'd want settled before printing a price list.

Grooming is not named in the Department of Revenue's ten taxable service categories. Products you sell during the appointment, such as shampoo or a leash, are taxable goods and belong on separate lines. Ask the Department for a written classification of your grooming menu before you set a tax policy.

The Department lists ten categories: sleeping rooms, admissions, parking, printing and copying, laundry and cleaning services, cold storage, repairs and maintenance of property, telecommunications, prewritten software access and information services. Cable and satellite services are handled separately in the statute.

Labor is taxed when it falls into one of the named categories, such as repairs and maintenance of tangible personal property or laundry and cleaning. When labor is part of selling a product, the Department counts those connected services in the product's taxable amount. For pet-care labor, describe the service to the Department and ask for its answer in writing.

The sleeping-room category covers accommodations furnished to transient guests, and whether a kennel or boarding fee fits depends on the facts. Send the Department your boarding contract and a sample invoice and request a written classification.

If the seller didn't collect Louisiana tax and the table is taxable, consumer use tax may be due. The Department accepts reports on Form R-1035, generally by the 20th of the month after the purchase.

Write down every service and product you sell, with how each one appears on your invoice. Send the services to the Department's Tax Policy and Planning Division for a written classification, register through LaTAP, look up your address rate and confirm it with your local collector, and set separate invoice lines for products. Then check your parish and city licenses, zoning and any kennel requirement.

When your tax setup is sorted and you're ready for customers to find you, you can list your business in the DogServ dog-services directory.

This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. For a ruling on your business, contact the Louisiana Department of Revenue and your local collector.

• irs.gov: IRS Publication 334
• lataonline.org: rate lookup
• lataonline.org: taxpayer resources
• legacy.sba.gov: SBA's Louisiana district office
• legis.la.gov: R.S. 3:2772
• legis.la.gov: R.S. 47:301.3
• legis.la.gov: R.S. 47:302(K)
• parishe-file.revenue.louisiana.gov: Parish E-File
• parishe-file.revenue.louisiana.gov: Sales Tax Explorer
• revenue.la.gov: business registration page
• revenue.la.gov: consumer use tax page
• revenue.la.gov: LaTAP
• revenue.la.gov: Louisiana Department of Revenue
• revenue.la.gov: Policy Contacts page
• revenue.la.gov: sleeping-room guidance
• revenue.la.gov: tax forms page
• revenue.louisiana.gov: Department of Revenue
• revenue.louisiana.gov: general sales and use tax page
• sos.la.gov: geauxBIZ