Louisiana data center incentives explained — Act 730, Quality Jobs, and parish PILOTs.
Louisiana stacks a 20-year (renewable to 30) state and local sales/use tax exemption on data center equipment with Quality Jobs payroll rebates and parish PILOTs, conditional on $200M+ capex and 50+ permanent jobs.
The four questions we keep asking.
What Act 730 actually does
Act 730 of the 2024 Regular Session created a Louisiana state and local sales and use tax rebate on qualifying data center equipment and the development, acquisition, construction, lease, repair, refurbishment, expansion, and renovation of an approved data center. The rebate is paid annually after certification.
Stacking incentives: Quality Jobs and parish PILOTs
Act 730 is rarely used alone. Operators typically also enroll in the Louisiana Quality Jobs (QJ) program for a 5-year (renewable 5) payroll rebate of up to 6% on new direct jobs above set wage thresholds, plus a state sales/use tax rebate on capital expenditures during construction.
How Meta, Amazon, and Hut 8 are using the stack
Meta's Hyperion campus in Richland Parish anchors Entergy Louisiana's largest-ever industrial customer commitment, and the public record shows the project relying on Act 730 plus a Richland Parish PILOT to clear underwriting.
Where the catch is
The Department of Economic Development may terminate the agreement if the recipient fails to meet job or capex commitments. The $200M / 50-job floor is binding, not aspirational.
Start here.
The public record, linked.
- [1]Louisiana R.S. 47:305.73 — Exemptions; data center facility equipmentOpen →Louisiana Legislature
Statutory text governing the Act 730 sales/use tax exemption.
- [2]Act 730 — full textOpen →Louisiana Legislature
- [3]Data Center program pageOpen →Louisiana Economic Development
- [4]Amazon $12B Louisiana announcementOpen →Louisiana Economic Development
- [5]Open →
- [6]Louisiana provides incentives for data center developmentOpen →NAIOP Gulf Coast
Recurring questions.
Is Louisiana data center sales tax exempt?
Qualifying data center equipment and qualifying development/construction costs are eligible for a state and local sales/use tax rebate under Act 730 of 2024, provided the project is certified by Louisiana Economic Development, commits to at least $200M of capital investment, and creates at least 50 direct, permanent Louisiana jobs.
How long does the Act 730 incentive last?
The initial rebate term is 20 years with an option to renew for an additional 10 years, for a maximum 30-year horizon.
What is the minimum investment to qualify?
$200 million in new capital investment in Louisiana on or after July 1, 2024 and before July 1, 2029, and a sworn commitment to create at least 50 new direct, permanent jobs.
Do residential utility customers subsidize Louisiana data centers?
Utility filings before the Louisiana Public Service Commission and the Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi state regulators specifically require that data-center-driven generation and transmission costs be recovered from the data center customer, not subsidized by residential ratepayers. Entergy publicly estimates $2.8B of customer savings in Louisiana tied to data-center customer agreements signed in 2024–2025.