Louisiana window tint laws set the front side window limit at 25% VLT. The rear side window limit is also 25% VLT. The rearmost window must allow at least 12% VLT. This standard took effect August 1, 2025 under Acts 2025, No. 143. The law also caps reflectance at 20% and allows a medical exemption. These rules come from Louisiana window tint statute, R.S. 32:361.1.
What Louisiana Law Currently Requires
Louisiana Revised Statutes Section 32:361.1 sets the core visible light transmission standard for vehicle window tint. Front side windows must allow at least 25% VLT, all tolerances included. Side windows located behind the driver must also allow at least 25% VLT. The rearmost window, often called the rear windshield, must allow at least 12% VLT. Every sun screening device must meet a separate reflectance rule described later in this guide.
Visible light transmission, often shortened to VLT, describes the percentage of light that passes through the glass and film together as one combined layer. A higher VLT percentage means more light gets through, which means a lighter tint. A lower VLT percentage means less light passes through, producing a darker tint. Louisiana measures VLT with a meter placed against the window, capturing glass and film together as a single reading.
The phrase all tolerances included appears directly in Code Section 32:361.1 subsection C. This phrase means the listed percentage already accounts for the normal variation found in tint film manufacturing and in meter measurement. It is not a separate cushion added on top of the stated number. A reading that falls below the listed percentage does not meet the legal standard, since tolerance has already been built into that figure.
The 2025 Change to the Front Side Window Limit
Louisiana previously set the front side window limit at 40% VLT under earlier versions of Code Section 32:361.1. Acts 2025, No. 143 amended Code Section 32:361.1 subsection C paragraph 1 and lowered that front side figure to 25% VLT. This change took effect on August 1, 2025. The 2025 House Bill 119 amending the tint statute confirms the legislature targeted this specific front side percentage.
Some published guides online still list the older 40% front side figure as the current Louisiana standard. That figure predates the August 1, 2025 change and no longer reflects current law. A reader checking any outside source against Louisiana law should confirm its listed date and compare it against the effective date of Acts 2025, No. 143 before relying on any front side percentage that differs from 25%.
Tint installed on front side or back side windows before August 1, 2025 that measured between 25% and 39% VLT fell within a range the older statute once prohibited. Under the amended Code Section 32:361.1, that same tint now meets the current 25% floor for those windows. The amendment lowered the legal minimum rather than raised it, so previously noncompliant tint can now fall within the new legal floor.
Reflectance Limits Separate from VLT
Louisiana law also limits luminous reflectance under Code Section 32:361.1 subsection C paragraph 1, capping every sun screening device at no more than 20% reflectance. Reflectance describes how much light a tinted window bounces back outward toward other drivers, rather than how much light passes through the glass. A film can meet the VLT floor for its window and still violate the law if its reflectance exceeds 20%.
VLT and reflectance measure two different physical properties of the same tint film. VLT asks how much light travels through the window from outside to inside the vehicle. Reflectance asks how much light bounces back off the outer surface toward the outside world. A tint film with a mirrored or metallic finish can produce high reflectance even when its VLT percentage falls within the legal range for that window.
Windshield Tint Rules
Code Section 32:361.1 subsection C paragraph 2 allows a transparent, non-reflective material on the topmost portion of the front windshield, limited to five inches down from the top edge. This strip cannot be red or amber in color under the same subsection. Below that five inch strip, the general windshield obstruction rule in Code Section 32:361.1 subsection B applies, prohibiting material that reduces the driver’s clear view through the windshield.
Vehicle Type Exemptions
Code Section 32:361.1 subsection D paragraph 4 exempts windows behind the driver on trucks, buses, trailers, motor homes, and multipurpose passenger vehicles from the light transmittance requirement otherwise applying to those windows. This subsection also exempts all windows on vehicles used for law enforcement purposes, tinted according to the rest of Code Section 32:361.1. Passenger cars and sedans do not receive this exemption on their side or rear windows.
A reader who owns a truck, van, or similar vehicle covered by this exemption may install tint of any darkness behind the driver without violating Code Section 32:361.1. The front side windows on these vehicles remain subject to the standard 25% VLT floor. The exemption in subsection D paragraph 4 applies only to windows behind the driver, not to front side windows next to the driver and front passenger seats.
Medical Exemption Process
Louisiana Revised Statutes Section 32:361.2 establishes a medical exemption that allows tint darker than the standard limits under Code Section 32:361.1. A person seeking this exemption completes an affidavit that includes certification from a licensed optometrist or physician, which may include an ophthalmologist or dermatologist. The certifying professional describes the medical condition requiring reduced light exposure directly on the affidavit form.
The Louisiana State Police window tint medical exemption affidavit confirms this exemption process and restates the current 25% front side, 25% rear side, and 12% rear window figures on the official form itself. Where photophobia is the certified condition, the certifying optometrist or physician must also explain in writing why ordinary sunglasses would not provide adequate protection under Code Section 32:361.2.
A copy of the completed affidavit must remain in the vehicle at all times under Code Section 32:361.2. An officer who stops a vehicle with darker tint may ask to see this documentation. Some published guides claim Louisiana permits no medical exemption at all for window tint. That claim conflicts with the affidavit process set out directly in Code Section 32:361.2 and the official state police exemption form.
Penalties for Drivers
Code Section 32:361.1 subsection E sets a graduated fine schedule for a driver who operates a Louisiana registered vehicle in violation of the tint requirements. A first offense carries a fine of not more than $150. A second offense carries a fine of not more than $250. A third or subsequent offense carries a fine of not more than $350. These amounts apply to drivers, not tint film businesses.
Penalties for Sellers and Installers
Code Section 32:361.1 subsection G sets a separate and considerably steeper fine schedule for any seller, installer, manufacturer, or distributor of a sun screening device who violates the statute. A first offense carries a fine of $1,000. A second offense carries a fine of $2,000. A third or subsequent offense results in that business being prohibited from conducting the tint related business described in Code Section 32:361.1.
Code Section 32:361.1 subsection D paragraph 1 requires every manufacturer to certify to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections office of motor vehicles that a device sold in Louisiana meets the reflectance and transmittance requirements. Subsection D paragraphs 2 and 3 require the installer to affix a label no larger than one and one half square inches to the driver’s side window, identifying the installer.
Common Misconceptions
A common misconception involves the 40% figure many readers still associate with Louisiana front side windows. That figure applied under the version of Code Section 32:361.1 in effect before August 1, 2025 and no longer reflects current law after Acts 2025, No. 143 took effect. Another misconception treats reflectance and VLT as one number, when Code Section 32:361.1 treats them as two separate thresholds a device must satisfy at once.
A further misconception assumes Louisiana provides no path to darker tint for a documented medical need. Code Section 32:361.2 establishes an affidavit based medical exemption, certified by a licensed optometrist or physician, that allows tint outside the standard limits when a qualifying condition is documented. A reader evaluating any existing tint installation should compare window position, vehicle type, and any medical documentation against the current statute. See the Disclaimer below.
Disclaimer
This article is for general informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Lawwalls publishes informational content only and does not provide legal services or legal advice.
For legal advice about your specific situation contact a licensed attorney in your state. Laws change and vary by jurisdiction. Verify current rules with official government sources or a qualified lawyer.