Allen Parish’s sales tax collections continue to indicate the local economy is seeing the end to the surge of purchases associated with the repairs due to Hurricane Laura, which made landfall in Cameron Parish on August 27, 2020, and Hurricane Delta, which made landfall six weeks later in Creole on October 9, 2020.
The January 2022 report which indicates collections for December 2021 illustrated the monthly collections total at $1.9 million compared to the approximately $2 million collected during the same time period in 2020. So the reports for 2022 are indicating a negative collection of approximately 4.38 percent less than reported in January of 2021 when comparing the collections reported during the same time frame.
January’s report indicates every governmental collection account was down with the Allen Parish Occupancy Tax down 50.68 percent and the Allen Parish Tourist Commission down at 50.67 percent. This was followed with the Town of Kinder at a negative 26.48 percent, The Town of Kinder Library/Sewage at a negative 26.38 percent and the Town of Elizabeth at a negative 22.97 percent. All negative number affect our government leaders, according to collection analysts, but the smaller communities with less tax base are always hit harder. These local tax collections allow the communities to operate day-to-day and perform services to their constituents.
Don’t forget the Louisiana Department of Revenue has a website, which allows businesses to pay their sales taxes online. The site is called Parish E-file. No fees are required to use the site. Registration requires an email address, a bank account number and sales tax account numbers. The site is located at https://parishe-file.revenue.louisiana.gov.
Don’t forget SalesTaxOnline (www.salestaxonline.com) is available for taxpayers to file sales tax returns online. Dealers must register in advance with SalesTaxOnline to be able to file online. Both services are offered free of charge to all dealers.
If you need more information, contact the Sales Tax Administrator Pat Latigue at the Allen Parish School Board (337-639-2145).
