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
La. R.S. 47:305.73 exempts qualifying data center equipment, and an approved data center's development, acquisition, construction, lease, repair, refurbishment, expansion, and renovation spending, from state and local sales and use tax. Act 730 of the 2024 Regular Session added data centers to the section as an annual rebate; Act 11 of the 2024 Third Extraordinary Session converted it to an exemption for taxable periods beginning on and after January 1, 2025.
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. LED's December 2024 announcement said Meta was expected to use the Act 730 program and the Quality Jobs program, and an LED statement reported in July 2026 said the exemption had been granted; the project also carries a Richland Parish PILOT.
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.
Every parish, on the record.
Each Louisiana parish has a dedicated incentives page covering tracked hyperscale AI data center projects, the public records that control the answer, and what is still missing from the record.
Parishes with tracked hyperscale projects
Watchlist parishes
Every Louisiana parish keeps a incentives record even before a named campus appears — each page states what is confirmed, what is missing from the public record, and which filings would change the answer.
Capital
Northshore
Greater New Orleans
Start here.
What we publish on this topic.
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?
Yes, for certified projects. Qualifying data center equipment and qualifying development/construction costs are exempt from state and local sales and use tax under La. R.S. 47:305.73 — the Act 730 program, an exemption since January 1, 2025 — provided the facility is certified by Louisiana Economic Development after attesting to at least $200M of new capital investment and at least 50 direct, permanent Louisiana jobs.
How long does the Act 730 incentive last?
The agreement with Louisiana Economic Development has a 20-year initial term, and LED may renew it 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.