La. R.S. 47:337.51 — Notice of assessment and right to appeal

A.(1) Having assessed the amount determined to be due, the collector shall send a
notice by certified mail to the taxpayer against whom the assessment is imposed at the
address given in the last report filed by the taxpayer, or to any address obtainable from any
private entity which will provide such address free of charge or from any federal, state, or
local government entity, including but not limited to the United States Postal Service or from
the United States Postal Service certified software. This notice shall inform the taxpayer of
the assessment and the right to do any of the following:
(a) Pay the amount of the assessment within sixty calendar days from the date of the
notice.
(b) Appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals for redetermination of the assessment within
sixty calendar days from the date of the notice.
(c) Pay under protest in accordance with R.S. 47:337.63 within sixty calendar days
from the date of the notice, and then either file suit or file a petition with the Board of Tax
Appeals, all as provided for in that Section.
(d) Agree in writing with the collector to a mediation within fifteen calendar days
from the date of the notice pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 47:337.51.1.
(2) If no report has been timely filed, the collector shall send a notice by certified
mail to the taxpayer against whom the assessment is imposed at any address obtainable from
any private entity which will provide such address free of charge or from any federal, state,
or local government entity, including but not limited to the United States Postal Service or
from the United States Postal Service certified software. This notice shall inform the
taxpayer of the assessment and that he has sixty calendar days from the date of the notice to
do any of the following:
(a) Pay the amount of the assessment.
(b) Pay under protest in accordance with R.S. 47:337.63 and then either file suit or
file a petition with the Board of Tax Appeals, all as provided for in that Section.
(c) If applicable, consider any rights pursuant to Paragraph (4) of this Subsection and
other applicable law.
(3) If the taxpayer has not paid under protest in accordance with the provisions of
R.S. 47:337.63, or pursued an alternative remedy in accordance with R.S. 47:337.64, or filed
an appeal with the Board of Tax Appeals within the sixty-day period provided for in
Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, the assessment shall be final and shall be collectible by
distraint and sale as provided in this Part. If an appeal for a redetermination of the assessment
has been timely and properly filed, the assessment shall not be collectible by distraint and
sale until such time as the assessment has been redetermined or affirmed by the Board of Tax
Appeals or the court which last reviews the matter.
(4) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any person who receives
an assessment pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph (2) of this Subsection may take any
action authorized in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection within the applicable deadline for
action stated in the notice of assessment if the assessment exceeds tax in the amount of one
hundred thousand dollars or if the person has never filed a return with that local collector,
has never been the subject of any action pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 47:337.45 by that
local collector, and has no physical presence in the state.
B.(1) If any dealer disputes any findings or assessment of the collector, he may,
within sixty days of the receipt of notice of the assessment or finding, do any of the
following:
(a) File an appeal from the decision of the collector directed to the Board of Tax
Appeals.
(b) Pay under protest in accordance with R.S. 47:337.63, and either file suit as
provided for in that Section, or file a petition with the Board of Tax Appeals, as provided in
that Section.
(2) This Section shall afford a legal remedy and right of action in the Board of Tax
Appeals, or in any state, city, or federal court having jurisdiction of the parties and subject
matter for a full and complete adjudication of any and all questions arising in the
enforcement of the local ordinance and this Chapter as to the legality of any tax accrued or
accruing or the method of enforcement thereof. If an appeal for a redetermination of the
assessment has been timely and properly filed with the Board of Tax Appeals pursuant to
Subparagraph (1)(a) of this Subsection, the assessment shall not be collectible by distraint
and sale until the assessment has been redetermined or affirmed by the Board of Tax Appeals
or the court which last reviews the matter.
(3) A notice of tax due issued pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 47:337.48 shall not
constitute a finding for purposes of this Subsection.
(4) Repealed by Acts 2018, No. 143, §2, eff. May 11, 2018.
C.(1) No assessment made by the collector shall be final if it is determined that the
assessment was based on an error of fact or of law. An "error of fact" for this purpose means
facts material to the assessment assumed by the collector at the time of the assessment to be
true but which subsequently are determined by the collector to be false. "Error of law" for
this purpose means that in making the assessment the collector applied the law contrary to
the construction followed by the collector in making other assessments.
(2) The determination of an error of fact or of law under this Subsection shall be
solely that of the collector, and no action against the collector with respect to the
determination shall be brought in any court, including the Board of Tax Appeals, and no
court shall have jurisdiction of any such action, it being the intent of this Subsection only to
permit the collector to correct manifest errors of fact or in the application of the law made
by the collector in making the assessment; however, all reductions of assessments based on
such errors, except estimated assessments made due to the failure of the taxpayer to file a
proper tax return, must be approved and signed by the collector. Estimated assessments
made due to the failure of the taxpayer to file a proper tax return may be corrected by the
acceptance of the proper tax return and must be approved by the collector or his designee.
D.(1) A collector may elect to send to a taxpayer or dealer by regular mail a copy of
the notice of assessment containing the same information and addressed in the same manner
as provided for in Subsection A of this Section. If the collector mails this regular mail notice
on the same date and to the same address as the collector mails a notice of assessment by
certified mail, then the notice transmitted by regular mail shall be deemed to have been
received by the taxpayer or dealer on the earlier of the date that the United States Postal
Service record indicates that it first attempted to deliver the notice of assessment to the
taxpayer or dealer, or on the seventh business day from the date of mailing. A certificate of
mailing or other proof of mailing from the United States Postal Service shall establish that
this copy of the notice of assessment was transmitted by regular mail. Other evidence may
be used to alternatively establish the presumption of delivery provided for in this Subsection,
including an affidavit of the person who transmitted the notice attesting to the fact that it was
transmitted in accordance with the provisions of this Subsection.
(2) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if a collector, in his sole
discretion, chooses not to send the copy of the notice of assessment provided for in Paragraph
(1) of this Subsection, the absence of transmitting the notice by regular mail shall not be used
to establish that a notice of assessment was either not mailed or not received.
(3) If a collector, in his sole discretion, sends the copy of the notice of assessment
provided for in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, the transmittal of the notice shall have no
impact on the time within which the amount of the assessment is required to be paid or paid
under protest, or, as provided in this Section, the time within which the assessment becomes
final or the time within which an appeal may be made to the Board of Tax Appeals.
Acts 2003, No. 73, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2010, No. 1003, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2011;
Acts 2014, No. 640, §2, eff. June 12, 2014; Acts 2015, No. 210, §1, eff. June 23, 2015; Acts
2018, No. 143, §§1, 2, eff. May 11, 2018; Acts 2020, No. 118, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2021; Acts
2020, No. 309, §1, eff. July 1, 2020; Acts 2025, No. 285, §1, eff. June 11, 2025.
NOTE: See Acts 2018, No. 143, §4.
NOTE: §337.1(D) shall not be applicable to any existing assessment prior to July 1,
2018, not applicable to pending litigation in the courts of Board of Tax Appeals
existing prior to May 11, 2018.