LOUISIANA 
Yield Tax’. 
Classification 
Qualification. The land must be suitable for 
timber production and not have an average cash 
value, exclusive of timber, of more than $8 nor less 
than $3 per acre. 
Procedure. The owner makes application to the 
Louisiana Forestry Commission giving a descrip- 
tion of the land, its market value and assessed 
value. The owner must also furnish a comprehen- 
sive plan for planting any of the lands to seedlings. 
Following inspection, agreement is reached be- 
tween the Commission and the parish as to the 
value of the lands. Such value then becomes the 
basis of assessment. 
The owner enters into a contract with the State 
agreeing to grow timber according to rules of the 
Commission. The term of the contract may not 
exceed 40 years. 
Conditions governing continued classification. 
The owner must practice forestry in accordance 
with the terms of the contract, and must protect 
the land from fire. 
' Known as the ‘‘Reforestation Contract Severance Tax.’ 
See also the ‘1954 Forest Tax Law’”’ (classified in this Digest 
as a mandatory yield tax) and the ‘General Severance Tax.” 
The yield tax portion of the Reforestation Contract Severance 
Tax was repealed by the 1954 Forest Tax Law with the pro- 
vision, however, that no contracts previously entered into 
were to be impaired. The Reforestation Contract Severance 
Tax is included in this Digest because substantial acreage 
remains under contract; moreover contracts continue to be 
entered into providing that classified land be assessed at the 
value as determined at time of entry. 
Optional. Enacted 1910. Amended 1920. Reenacted 1922. 
Amended 1924, 1926, and 1952. 
Revised Statutes Secs. 56: 1484-9; 56: 1541-3. 
Declassification 
If the owner fails to observe the terms of the 
contract, it is subject to cancellation. The land 
and timber are then restored to the assessment 
rolls and back taxes become payable equivalent 
to the difference, plus 6 percent interest, between 
those actually paid and those which would have 
been due had the land not been under contract. 
Taz treatment 
Land. Subject to the property tax; assessed at 
the value as determined at time of classification. 
Timber. In the case of contracts entered into 
after the effective date of the 1926 amendment 
to the Act and before repeal of the amendment as 
of January 1, 1955, timber is subject to tax at 
time of harvest amounting to 6 percent of market 
value. 
In the case of contracts entered into after 
January 1, 1955, timber is subject to payment of 
yale taxes as provided by the 1954 Forest Tax 
aw. 
Use of revenue 
Yield tax revenues were allocated by 1952 
legislation to the Louisiana Forestry Commission 
for reforestation and scientific forestry research. 
The 1954 Forest Tax Law, however, provided that 
all severance tax revenues be allocated three- 
fourths to the parishes and one-fourth to the 
State general fund. The 1954 legislation has been 
construed to apply to yield tax revenues collected 
under the Reforestation Contract Severance Tax. 
