Louisiana payroll setup for your first hire

Louisiana takes state income tax from paychecks. Those amounts sit with the Department of Revenue, not Louisiana Works.

Louisiana takes state income tax from paychecks. This is not Texas, Florida, Washington, or Tennessee. Those states do not take state income tax from paychecks. A federal Employee’s Withholding Certificate (Form W-4) is not the Louisiana certificate.

LDR is the Louisiana Department of Revenue, the income-tax office. La. R.S. 47:112 says every employer that pays wages must withhold Louisiana income tax using the Department of Revenue tables. The withholding page says every employer with resident or nonresident employees performing services in Louisiana must withhold, unless a specific exemption applies. Register on LaTAP. The withholding-registration FAQ says register for a Louisiana Withholding Tax account before you file returns or remit tax. It also says do not register until you begin withholding Louisiana income tax from wages. Registering too early can create filing duties before you have employees subject to withholding. That “do not register until you withhold” line is agency guidance. It is not a 15-day California registration clock. Do not copy that clock onto Louisiana.

The FAQ sends a new shop to LaTAP and “Register My Business.” An existing LDR account adds withholding inside the same portal. geauxBIZ, the Secretary of State one-stop, can start a Louisiana tax account number and an unemployment application for a new shop. Those accounts still sit with two agencies. A Secretary of State filing is not a withholding account. A federal Employer Identification Number, called FEIN, is not that number. LASTARS is not that number either.

Employees complete Form L-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate, also numbered R-1300. The January 2026 Form L-4 says file the certificate with the employer. If a new hire does not complete Form L-4, withhold Louisiana income tax without any standard deduction. Keep the certificate. The federal W-4 is not that Louisiana certificate.

The withholding page says every employer who withholds, or is required to withhold, must file a quarterly return electronically for every assigned period, even if no tax was withheld. Those zero returns still sit on you. La. R.S. 47:114 requires the calendar-quarter return and an annual reconciliation. The Department of Revenue names the quarterly return Form L-1 and the annual reconciliation Form L-3. File Form L-3 by January 31, or 30 days after final wages if the shop closes. The annual file can ride LaWage. A payment is not a return. Payment frequency follows average monthly withholding: quarterly under $500, monthly from $500 to under $5,000, and semi-monthly at $5,000 or more. File and pay electronically on LaTAP. The withholding number still sits with the Department of Revenue. The unemployment number still sits with Louisiana Works.

When you owe unemployment: $1,500 in a quarter, or one person in 20 weeks. Apply in 30 days even if you are not yet liable.

Louisiana Works is the unemployment-tax office. The same office is the Louisiana Workforce Commission. Unemployment Compensation still sits with that department. That tax is often called SUTA, state unemployment tax, or SUI, state unemployment insurance. The 2025 Unemployment Insurance Tax Guide restates the regular-shop test. You become liable if you pay $1,500 or more in wages in any calendar quarter, or you have at least one worker on some day in 20 or more different weeks in a calendar year. La. R.S. 23:1472 prints the same $1,500-quarter or 20-week test. The weeks need not be consecutive. The worker need not be the same person each week. Domestic shops use a $1,000-quarter test. Agricultural shops use a $20,000-quarter test, or 10 workers in 20 weeks. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit becomes liable at four workers in 20 weeks. A shop already liable under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, called FUTA, with Louisiana employees is also liable. This scorecard is the regular-business path.

This is not California’s $100-in-a-quarter test. There is no 15-day California clock on the Louisiana Works page. Do not copy that clock onto Louisiana. This is not Oregon’s $1,000-quarter or 18-week test. Do not copy an 18-week clock onto Louisiana. This is not Indiana’s $1 covered-wage test. Do not copy that $1 test onto Louisiana. This is not Maryland’s one-worker clock from the first day of business. Maryland also tells shops to file a Combined Registration Application within 20 days of opening. Louisiana’s LASTARS application is not that Maryland form. Minnesota tells shops not to register unemployment until covered wages have actually been paid. Louisiana Employment Security Law Rule 317 does the opposite. The tax guide says every shop that begins operations and pays wages in Louisiana must file an Application for an Unemployment Insurance Account Number within 30 days, even if the shop is not yet liable. Failure to register within 30 days of the first payment can bring penalties and interest. South Carolina uses the same $1,500-quarter or 20-week pair. South Carolina’s unemployment office is not Louisiana Works. Alabama uses that same pair. Alabama’s unemployment office is not Louisiana Works. Alabama does not print that 30-day apply-even-if-not-liable clock. Do not treat Louisiana like a no-withholding state.

Louisiana Works assigns an unemployment tax Employer Account Number, often called EAN, also known as a State Identification Number, called SID. The employer-account page uses that number on LASTARS and on later wage files. Hold the number. Do not substitute a federal EIN for that number. Do not substitute the Louisiana Revenue Account Number. A withholding number is not required before you apply for the unemployment account. After the application, the office usually mails a liability notice or a non-liability notice in two to four weeks. A non-liability notice means no EAN was assigned because the coverage test was not met.

Register unemployment on LASTARS. File later wage reports on the same Louisiana Works office.

LASTARS is the Louisiana Works unemployment registration portal. The LASTARS application is where you apply for the Employer Account Number. The tax guide sends that application to laors9.laworks.net/LaStarsRegistration. The Wage and Tax Reporting Services page says login to LASTARS to establish a UI Employer Account Number. After the account exists, file the quarterly wage and tax report on LAWATS, the Louisiana Works wage and tax reporting portal, also called Tax Services. A quarterly wage report is not the new-hire report.

The same page says those quarterly reports are due within 30 days after the end of the quarter. File electronically. La. R.S. 23:1531.1 requires electronic filing. Part-time wages count. The page also asks for a nominal hourly rate of pay on the wage file. A job title or Standard Occupational Classification code, called SOC, is optional.

The tax-rate page says the 2026 wage base is $7,000. A new shop is an ineligible employer until it serves the eligibility period. Until then the rate is the average rate for employers in the same industrial classification, often called a NAICS code, from the latest rate computation. That is not Alabama’s flat 2.70% new-account rate. It is not Kentucky’s printed 2.7% entry rate. Use the rate on your annual contribution tax-rate notice and on LAWATS, not a number from a software page. After the eligibility period, the rate follows experience rating. HiRE is Helping Individuals Reach Employment, a separate Louisiana Works portal. A separation notice, Form 77, is due on HiRE within 10 days after a worker leaves. That clock is not the new-hire report.

New hire is a 20-day Department of Children and Family Services report. A LAWATS wage report does not take it.

The new-hire report is a list of who you just hired. It is not a box on the quarterly unemployment wage report. DCFS is the Department of Children and Family Services, the child-support office. The Louisiana Works New Hire Registry page requires a report of each new hire and rehire within 20 days. File at la-newhire.com. The reporting-fundamentals page restates that 20-day clock from the worker’s first day on the job. La. R.S. 46:236.14 and Act 97 of the 1997 Louisiana Legislative Session sit behind that directory. A rehire after a 60-day unpaid gap counts as a new hire. Electronic shops may transmit twice a month, no fewer than 12 days and no more than 16 days apart. Submitting quarterly wage reports to Louisiana Works does not satisfy that clock. This is not Alabama’s seven-day Department of Workforce report. This is not Georgia’s 10-day report. This is not Massachusetts’s 14-day Department of Revenue report. This is not Kentucky’s 20-day Office of the Attorney General report. Kentucky’s collector is not DCFS.

The payroll service can send the file. The clock still sits on you.

Workplace injury insurance is due when you have one employee. The Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration does not sell the policy.

This is Kentucky’s first-employee path. It is not Alabama’s five-employee wait. It is not Florida’s four-employee wait. It is not South Carolina’s four-employee wait. It is not Oregon’s first-subject-worker path. It is not Wisconsin’s three-employee or $500-quarter path. It is not the three-employee-only test used in Georgia, North Carolina, or Virginia. It is not Texas optional coverage. It is not Washington’s exclusive state fund. It is not Ohio’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation monopoly. Louisiana calls this workers’ compensation.

La. R.S. 23:1035 applies the Chapter to every person performing services arising out of and incidental to employment in the employer’s trade, business, or occupation. The coverage FAQ restates that employers must keep workplace injury insurance even if they have only one employee. That includes part-time, full-time, temporary, or seasonal employees. A sole proprietor, a partner, an LLC member who owns at least 10 percent, or a corporate officer who owns at least 10 percent may elect out of coverage for themselves in writing. That election does not drop coverage for other employees. Domestic work, certain farm labor, and other listed exemptions sit on the exemptions list. This scorecard is the regular-business path.

OWCA is the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration. OWCA does not sell that policy. The same FAQ lists a licensed private carrier authorized in Louisiana, an approved group self-insurance fund, or individual self-insurance if the shop qualifies with OWCA. That private-market path is not a Washington-style exclusive state fund. A payroll login is not a policy.

How Gusto and Patriot describe Louisiana

Confirm the live Louisiana Revenue Account Number on LaTAP. Confirm the Employer Account Number and rate on LAWATS and on the tax-rate notice. Confirm workplace injury insurance with a licensed carrier or on the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration coverage FAQ. Confirm the 20-day new-hire file at la-newhire.com.

Gusto’s Louisiana help article says Middesk (Gusto’s business-verification company) may register state income-tax withholding and state unemployment insurance (SUI). It names the Louisiana Department of Revenue for withholding and Louisiana Works (LAworks) for unemployment tax. The article sends withholding registration to LaTAP and “Register My Business.” It tells shops to enter a Revenue Account Number and an Employer Account Number. It lists Form L-1, Form L1-V, and Form L-3 among Louisiana files. It also tells shops to authorize Gusto as a third-party agent, called TPA, with Louisiana Works before Gusto can keep the unemployment file current. Employees still sign Form L-4 outside Gusto. Middesk’s standard order does not open workplace injury insurance. Read Gusto’s Louisiana article. See Gusto on the directory.

Patriot’s registration article tells new shops to register with the Louisiana Department of Revenue for a state income-tax account and says the Louisiana Revenue Account Number arrives after you log back in with an application code. The same article tells shops to register unemployment with the Louisiana Workforce Commission and to hold the EAN, also called SID. It says file unemployment electronically on Wage and Tax Reporting Services. The article says a new shop’s SUTA rate is the average rate for employers in the same industrial classification (NAICS code) and that the notice sits on the LAWATS account. Use the rate on your tax-rate notice, not a number from a software page. The same article tells employees to complete Form L-4 and puts the 20-day new-hire report on the Department of Children and Family Services. It also says workplace injury insurance is due if you have at least one employee, through a private provider or a state-operated fund. The one-employee line matches the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration coverage FAQ. The state-operated-fund line is what the software page says. The ordinary path is a licensed private policy, a group self-insurance fund, or approved self-insurance. It is not a Washington-style exclusive state fund. Read Patriot’s registration article. See Patriot on the directory.

What still sits on the employer

• Decide that you have hit $1,500 in a quarter or one person in 20 weeks. Agricultural, domestic, nonprofit, and FUTA-liable shops use other tests.
• Complete LaTAP so the Department of Revenue can issue the Louisiana Revenue Account Number. Do not open that withholding account until you begin withholding.
• Complete the LASTARS application within 30 days of the first Louisiana wages, even if you are not yet liable, so Louisiana Works can decide whether to issue the Employer Account Number.
• Hold the Louisiana Revenue Account Number. Hold the Employer Account Number, also called SID. Do not substitute a federal EIN for either number.
• Enter the premium rate from the tax-rate notice, not a marketing figure. Louisiana Works assigns a new shop the average rate for its industrial classification. Confirm the live notice.
• File the quarterly unemployment wage report on LAWATS after the account exists. Those reports are due 30 days after the quarter ends.
• Register withholding on LaTAP when you begin withholding. Collect Form W-4 and Form L-4. A federal W-4 is not the Louisiana certificate. File Form L-1 on the schedule the Department of Revenue assigns. File Form L-3 by January 31.
• File the 20-day new-hire report with the Department of Children and Family Services at la-newhire.com. A quarterly LAWATS wage report does not satisfy that clock.
• File Form 77 on HiRE within 10 days after a worker leaves. That separation notice is not the new-hire report.
• Buy workplace injury insurance when you have one employee, including part-time, temporary, or seasonal workers. The Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration does not sell that policy. Payroll software does not issue that policy.
• Do not copy another state’s clock onto Louisiana. Louisiana does not use California’s $100-quarter test. Louisiana does not use Oregon’s $1,000-quarter or 18-week unemployment test. Louisiana does not use Indiana’s $1 unemployment test. Louisiana does not use Maryland’s one-worker Combined Registration Application clock. Louisiana does not wait to register unemployment the way Minnesota waits for covered wages. Louisiana does not skip state paycheck withholding the way Texas, Florida, Washington, or Tennessee do. Louisiana does not use Alabama’s seven-day new-hire clock. Louisiana does not use Georgia’s 10-day new-hire clock. Louisiana does not use Alabama’s five-employee workplace-injury wait. Louisiana does not use Florida’s or South Carolina’s four-employee wait. Louisiana does not use Wisconsin’s three-employee or $500-quarter path. Louisiana does not use the three-employee-only wait used in Georgia, North Carolina, or Virginia. Louisiana does not use Washington’s exclusive state fund. Louisiana does not use Ohio’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation monopoly.

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