This month, we continue our blog series by contrasting Missouri and Louisiana, two states in the South-Central U.S., each shaped by the Mississippi River, through the lens of technology and sales tax. Whether you offer Software as a Service (SaaS), sell prewritten or custom software, or distribute digital goods, you’ll find that each state carves out its own rules.

 If you already know you need help with Missouri or Louisiana sales-tax questions, please reach out to us at info@milesconsultinggroup.com.

SaaS: Exemption Versus Taxation

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a booming segment of the economy, yet states remain divided on its taxability. In Missouri, cloud computing and SaaS are exempt from sales tax. The only caveat is that any tangible personal property purchased or used in Missouri to deliver those services (for example, servers or networking equipment) is subject to the state’s sales or use tax.

Louisiana, by contrast, chose to bring SaaS squarely into its tax base. As of January 1, 2025, the state’s definition of taxable “digital products” includes digital code, digital applications, and SaaS revenue. That means every subscription sale or usage fee you bill to customers in Louisiana carries a sales-tax charge at the point of sale.

Prewritten and Custom Software

When you sell software for download or installation, Missouri and Louisiana again take different tacks. Both states agree that off-the-shelf, prewritten software is taxable. Beyond that alignment:

  • Missouri carves out a narrow exemption for custom software delivered electronically. The charge you bill your customer for development is not taxable, although any tangible property or taxable services you purchase or consume in creating that custom solution still carry Missouri tax.
  • Louisiana offers no such carve-out—both prewritten and custom software delivered electronically are subject to state and local sales tax.

Digital Goods

E-books, music downloads, streaming video, and other electronically delivered content illustrate how patchwork digital-goods rules remain across America. Missouri treats all such digital products as exempt from sales tax, while Louisiana classifies them as taxable property at the moment of sale.

Sales-Tax Holidays

Each year, both states suspend sales tax for targeted categories over a short window:

  • In Missouri, the annual “Show Me Green” holiday runs April 19–25, 2026. During that week, qualifying Energy Star appliances and HVAC equipment priced up to US $1,500 are sold tax-free. If an item exceeds $1,500, only the amount above the cap is taxed.
  • Louisiana’s fall holiday (September 4–6, 2026) covers specified firearms, ammunition, archery supplies, hunting apparel, and safety equipment, with no price limit. All state and local sales tax is waived on eligible items.

For a broader look at state sales-tax holidays, see Avalara’s summary:
https://www.avalara.com/blog/en/north-america/2026/01/sales-tax-holidays.html

Economic & Industry Snapshots

The tax base in each state reflects its economic strengths. Missouri’s economy thrives on agriculture and natural resources: beef, pork, dairy, corn, soybeans, rice, cotton, and eggs all rank among the nation’s top producers. It sits sixth in hog production and seventh in cattle, while soybeans and rice rank in the top five. Mining—limestone, lead, coal, crushed stone—anchors another major sector, and St. Louis’s Anheuser-Busch leads the world in brewing. The state’s biotech and service industries—headquartered by firms such as Monsanto, Express Scripts, Emerson Electric, Edward Jones, and O’Reilly Auto Parts—add yet more diversity.

Louisiana, meanwhile, blends energy and agriculture with tourism. A global leader in crawfish (supplying roughly 90 percent of U.S. demand), Louisiana also produces cotton, soybeans, sugarcane, poultry, eggs, dairy, and rice. Its vast oil and natural-gas reserves power petrochemical, fertilizer, and fuel-processing facilities; paper, transportation equipment, and food processing plants; and an expanding life-sciences corridor. And of course, New Orleans’s tourism and gaming industries remain economic pillars for the state.

A Few Fun Facts

To round out our comparison:

  • Missouri, nicknamed the “Show Me State” for its skeptical citizenry, also claims the titles “Mother of the West” and “Cave State.” It hosted the U.S. Summer Olympics in St. Louis in 1904 and is the birthplace of Harry S. Truman, Mark Twain, and Walt Disney.
  • Louisiana, named for King Louis XIV, is the only U.S. state divided into parishes instead of counties. Its French-Cajun heritage shines in festivals like Mardi Gras and in towns such as Breaux Bridge, the self-proclaimed “Crawfish Capital of the World.”

Further Exploration

We invite you to revisit our earlier deep dives for more context:

Whether you operate in Missouri, Louisiana, or anywhere else, Miles Consulting Group is ready to help you navigate the complexities of multi-state sales tax and optimize your strategy. Contact us today to discuss how we can support your specific needs.