LOUISIANA 
Yield Tax.! 
Mandatory. Adopted 1954. 
Constitution of Louisiana, Article 10, Section 1. 
Classification 
There is no provision for classification since 
application of the law is mandatory. 
Tax treatment 
Land. Subject to the general property tax. 
Forest lands must be classified for assessment as 
follows: 
1. Tidewater cypress land 
2. Hardwood land 
3. Longleaf pine land 
4. Other pine land 
No timber value may be added to forest land as- 
sessments in excess of such timber value as was 
included at the time of the adoption of the Con- 
stitutional Amendment. 
Timber. Subject to payment of yield tax at time 
of harvest. 
1 Known as the “1954 Forest Tax Law’’. See also the ‘“‘Re- 
forestation Contract Severance Tax”’ (classified in this Digest 
as an optional yield tax) and the ‘‘General Severance Tax.”’ 
All forms except pulpwood 
244% of current average stumpage value. 
Pulpwoo 
5% of current average stumpage value. 
Current average stumpage value is determined 
jointly by the Louisiana Forestry Commission 
and the Louisiana Tax Commission in January 
of each year. 
Exemption. The Act exempts virgin timber. 
Such timber remains subject to the general prop- 
erty tax and to the General Severance Tax (see, 
however, note in connection with the General 
Severance Tax summary in this Digest). 
Tax administration 
The law provides that the tax on timber shall be 
collected in the same manner as severance taxes on 
natural resources. 
Use of revenue 
Seventy-five percent of the tax on timber is 
remitted by the State Treasurer to the parish 
in which the timber is cut; 25 percent is credited 
to the State general fund. 
MASSACHUSETTS 
Yield Tax.1 
Optional. Originally enacted 1914, reenacted 1922 and 1941. 
Amended 1943 and 1955. 
Annotated Laws 19638, Ch. 61, Secs. 1 to 7. 
Classification 
Qualification. Forest lands are eligible for classi- 
fication if they do not have a value (including 
forest growth) in excess of $50 per acre. Such 
lands may not be used for grazing or other pur- 
poses incompatible with forest production. 
If a tract consists in part of forest land and in 
part of other land, the forest land may be classi- 
fied if it comprises at least 10 acres and otherwise 
meets the requirements. 
Certain agricultural lands may also be classified. 
Those engaged exclusively in farming may take 
advantage of the Act as respects wild land and any 
land so rocky, hilly, or lacking in fertility as to be 
valued at $5 or less per acre. 
Procedure. Local assessors shall classify forest 
land subject to election by the owner not to have 
his land so listed. Following such election by the 
owner, land may not be listed for classification 
thereafter except upon request of the owner or 
until a new owner has taken title to it. If assessors 
fail to classify forest land, the owner may appeal 
1 Known as the “Forest Tax Law.” 
36 
to the State Forester and the latter’s determina- 
tion after a hearing of the parties shall be final. 
Conditions governing continued classification. 
The property must not be used for purposes in- 
consistent with forest production nor be more 
valuable for other use. 
A new owner of classified property including 
those taking land by inheritance may elect not to 
have the property remain classified. 
Declassification 
This may be effected by the assessors (after the 
owner has been given an opportunity to be heard) 
when in their judgement the conditions for classi- 
fication are no longer being met. A declassification 
tax, equal to the yield tax, is imposed upon the 
value of timber standing upon the tract at time of 
declassification. 
Tax treatment 
Land. The owner is subject to an annual tax at 
current millage rates based upon the ‘adjusted 
valuation” of classified forest land. The adjusted 
valuation shall be the percentage of the full value 
of the land, including growth thereon, set forth 
in the following schedule: 
