Lafayette, LA Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)

The Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government's occupational license tax does not use one flat citywide rate, Chapter 82, Article VI of the Code of Ordinances sorts every business operating within Lafayette Parish into a classification, and each classification carries its own gross-receipts bracket schedule. Sec. 00 for sales of $5,000,000 or more. Adjacent sections split off other trades into separate tables: Sec. 00, and Sec. 00 above $500,000 in receipts. Later sections of the same article classify theaters and amusement places (Sec. 82-647), health clubs and schools (Sec.

82-648), detective agencies (Sec. 82-649), and dozens more named trades through Sec. 82-679, each keyed to its own rate table. Sec. 82-631 levies the tax on 'any person conducting any business enumerated in this article within the parish,' and Sec. 82-632 designates the Lafayette Parish Sheriff as the 'Collector,' while the finance department director may also enforce collection. Every applicant must first apply to the collector under Sec. 82-640 before the license becomes delinquent, and the collector may audit the applicant's books. Because these classification tables sit in the parish article rather than the separate city occupational license article (Sec.

S. 47:341-47:363 by reference), a business's actual bracket and dollar amount depend on which trade description in Sec. 82-644 through Sec. 82-679 its activity fits.