The Louisiana Tax Commission (LTC) on Sept. 24, 2025, adopted a package of amendments to its rules and regulations that update valuation tables for oil-and-gas equipment, revise definitions for certain barges, require additional identification on LTC forms and adjust a property credit tied to the 2025 legislative session.

The changes, which the commission approved by voice vote with no objections recorded, include chapter-specific amendments proposed by LTC staff, the Louisiana Assessors Association and industry committees. The commission said the updates will be posted on its website and published in the December 2025 edition of the Louisiana Register, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2026, for the emergency rule adopted upon promulgation.

Among the items the commission approved were amendments to Chapter 2 to alter language in 2-13(e) (inserting the words "publicly available" at the start of specified subsections) and a directive that LTC staff review and update all LTC forms so each required form includes the printed name of the individual signing, that individual's contact information, title and signature, and the date last revised on the website.

The commission moved to update oil-and-gas reporting forms and attachments. It approved an amendment to the LAT-12 oil-and-gas property form reference in Chapter 3 to update the year/month column of LAT-12 Attachment A as proposed by the Louisiana Assessors Association Oil and Gas Committee. The commission also adopted a new verification form (referred to in the motion as the "LET verification form") to be furnished to personal property taxpayers who submit additional materials beyond their LEHI filing; the verification form must be signed and submitted by a bona fide representative of the taxpayer with personal knowledge of the submitted information and includes a penalty-of-perjury provision.

The commission approved two related changes to Chapter 7 addressing hopper barges. One motion added a new definition for "shale hopper" describing it as "a specialized heavily regulated vessel used in the oil and gas industry to contain and transport nonhazard oilfield waste like liquid mud and shale cuttings" and noting environmental regulations enforced by the United States Coast Guard. A second motion amended the hopper-barge definition to add the sentence, "this definition does not include shale hopper barges." Both motions were adopted without recorded objection.

Valuation tables and cost indices were updated across multiple chapters. The LTC approved changing the base date to 01/01/2025 in several Chapter 7 tables and Chapter 15, and accepted assessor-proposed values for shale hopper barges in table 7-03-b-2 using the same day rate as hopper barges. The commission also approved updates that increase "cost new" values by 2.11% in updated tables in Chapter 9 (including changes to expense forecasts and serial number starts), Chapter 10 (renumbering and table updates), and other tables where noted, and the addition of specific beginning 2025 serial numbers (for example, 254,960 was added to certain tables as described in motions).

In Chapter 9, the commission removed the sentence from the definition of "working interest" that read, "it will be a number less than 1 in most cases," and added a default rule to 9-05(a)(2)(c) stating, "if the decimal is unavailable for any reason, the default is 0.8," language proposed by the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association.

The commission also approved table updates in Chapters 11 and 13 to revise fair market/assessed values and cost-per-mile values, respectively, and approved composite multiplier and cost updates in Chapter 25. In Chapter 31, the commission approved revisions to Form 31-01 Exhibit A and other listed forms to add text at the end of a "please note" field and to require a printed name of the person signing and submitting the form.

The commission adopted a staff proposal to change the current 50% credit to a 100% credit for "other property values" as passed in the 2025 legislative session; the motion as recorded referenced the 2025 legislative session as the source of that change. The body also approved a motion that "we approve the changes to the Louisiana Tax Commission's real and personal property rules and regulations" and that an emergency rule be adopted upon promulgation with an effective date of 01/01/2026; the transcript records the tax-year wording used in the motion but that phrasing was not fully clear in the recorded text.

Most motions were made, followed by the chair asking if there was objection; in each case the transcript records "hearing none, motion is adopted." The chair closed the meeting after thanking assessors, business and industry participants and commissioners; the meeting adjourned at 9:13 a.m.

The adopted changes will be posted on the LTC website and appear in the December 2025 Louisiana Register, per the commission.