Louisiana (through 2024): la_surviving_spouse_exemption adds $1,000 for any widowed member, on top of the $9,000 surviving-spouse amount #10510

Summary

la_exemptions adds la_surviving_spouse_exemption, which is
tax_unit.any(person("is_surviving_spouse")) x $1,000 (gov.states.la.tax.income.exemptions.surviving_spouse).
It ignores the filing status and counts any member flagged is_surviving_spouse, on top of
la_personal_exemption ($9,000 for SURVIVING_SPOUSE). Louisiana law gives no such extra $1,000:

1. a qualifying surviving spouse gets $10,000 + $1,000 per dependent instead of $9,000 + $1,000 per dependent;
2. a widowed single filer (no qualifying child, or widowed more than two years ago) gets $5,500 instead of $4,500;
3. any other unit with a widowed member (for example a widowed parent claimed as a dependent) also gets the $1,000.

This affects every year PE models Louisiana's exemption system (through tax year 2024). From 2025 the tax uses the
flat rate and la_exemptions no longer changes the tax.

The law (tax year 2024)

• Former La. R.S. 47:294 (in force through 2024; rewritten by Act 11 of the 2024 Third Extraordinary Session, which
  also repealed R.S. 47:79): (A) a "combined personal exemption and standard deduction" of $4,500 for a single
  individual or married-separate return and $9,000 for a "Married-Joint Return and a Qualified Surviving Spouse" or
  head of household; (B) "An additional deduction of one thousand dollars shall be allowed for each allowable
  exemption in excess of those required to qualify for the exemption allowable under R.S. 47:294(A)." The pre-2025
  text is the struck-through text in the enrolled bill:
  https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1391418 (HB 10 enrolled = Act 11, page 7). Current R.S. 47:294:
  https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=101761; R.S. 47:79 (repealed): https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=102518
• 2024 IT-540 instructions, Lines 6A-6B: "You must use the same number of exemptions on your Louisiana return as
  you did on your federal return unless the following apply: you are listed as a dependent on someone else's
  return, you are age 65 or over, you are blind, or your filing status is Qualifying Surviving Spouse."
  Line 6A has the boxes Yourself, 65 or older, Blind and Qualifying Surviving Spouse.
  https://dam.ldr.la.gov/taxforms/IT540i%20WEB%20(2024)D18%20INSTRUCTIONS.pdf#page=3
• 2024 tax table "Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Surviving Spouse (Filing Status Box 2 or 5)": "The $9,000
  combined personal exemption-standard deduction and $1,000 for each exemption over two have been used in
  determining the tax shown in this table." The table's columns start at two exemptions.
  https://dam.ldr.la.gov/taxforms/IT540i%20WEB%20(2024)D18%20INSTRUCTIONS.pdf#page=20

So a qualifying surviving spouse counts two exemptions on Line 6A (Yourself and the Qualifying Surviving Spouse
box). The $9,000 covers both, and each dependent, 65+ or blind box adds $1,000. A surviving spouse with one
dependent claims three exemptions and reads column 3 of the table, which is $10,000 of exemptions
(1.85% x ($21,125 - $10,000) = $206 at the $21,000-21,250 row). A single filer whose spouse died claims only the
federal exemption: $4,500.

The variable's own reference, LDR form R-6935 (11/02) Tax Computation Worksheet
(https://dam.ldr.la.gov/taxforms/6935(11_02)F.pdf), also gives only "$9,000" for filing status 2, 4 or 5 plus
"$1,000 for taxpayers and/or spouses who are 65 or over, or blind, and for each dependent". It has no extra
amount for a surviving spouse.

Reproduction (PolicyEngine-US 2.72.3, main at 4c65c82; 2.49.1 gives the same numbers)

from policyengine_us import Simulation

YEAR = 2024

def la(age, wages, widowed, kid=None):
    people = {"you": {"age": {YEAR: age}, "employment_income": {YEAR: wages},
                      "is_surviving_spouse": {YEAR: widowed}}}
    if kid:
        people["kid"] = {"age": {YEAR: kid}}
    m = list(people)
    sim = Simulation(situation={"people": people, "tax_units": {"tu": {"members": m}},
        "spm_units": {"s": {"members": m}}, "families": {"f": {"members": m}},
        "marital_units": {f"mu{i}": {"members": [p]} for i, p in enumerate(m)},
        "households": {"h": {"members": m, "state_code": {YEAR: "LA"}}}})
    return [float(sim.calculate(v, YEAR)[0]) for v in
            ("la_exemptions", "la_income_tax_before_non_refundable_credits")]

la(62, 45_000, False)       # [4500, 1285.50]
la(62, 45_000, True)        # [5500, 1267.00]  single filer, widowed: $1,000 too much
la(45, 30_000, True, 15)    # [11000, 434.00]  surviving spouse + 1 child: law $10,000 (tax $452.50)

A head of household who claims a widowed parent (age 80, is_tax_unit_dependent, is_surviving_spouse) as a
dependent also gets la_exemptions = $11,000 instead of $10,000.

Expected vs actual

Fix: remove la_surviving_spouse_exemption from la_exemptions (the $9,000 for SURVIVING_SPOUSE already
covers the Qualifying Surviving Spouse box), or set gov.states.la.tax.income.exemptions.surviving_spouse to 0.

Related

• Reconcile the Louisiana exemptions legal code and tax forms #3531 (closed 2026-07-21) asked to reconcile the aged and widow(er) exemptions on the IT-540 with the statute.
  It was closed because la_surviving_spouse_exemption exists. This issue shows that the form's Qualifying Surviving
  Spouse box is already inside the $9,000.
• Disregard the gross income test for surviving spouse filing status (IRC 2(a)(1)(B)) #10273 (open) changes surviving_spouse_eligible; it does not touch the Louisiana exemption.
• Apply Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana and Maryland rules for a filer who can be claimed as a dependent #10045 (open) changes la_dependents_exemption.py; no overlap with this variable.

Impact on the PRD comparison

In the PolicyEngine-vs-Atlanta Fed PRD comparison on the CPS (PE-US 2.49.1), 26 Louisiana tax units in 2024 get
the extra $1,000 (21 single filers aged 59-85, 3 surviving spouses, 2 couples), $18.50 of tax each.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code