Penny Rounding Laws by State: 19 States Now Round Cash to the Nickel

Original research · State legislatures + U.S. Treasury + BLS QCEW · Last updated October 6, 2026

Laws checked: every law on this page was confirmed on the official state legislature or state agency website on October 6, 2026. Business counts: BLS QCEW, 2026 Q1.

The federal government has stopped making new pennies, and states are writing rounding rules one by one. As of October 6, 2026, 19 states have passed a law that lets or tells businesses round cash totals to the nearest nickel. Card and other electronic payments still go to the exact cent everywhere. The other 30 jurisdictions (counting DC) have no rounding law of any kind yet, and Congress has passed a federal bill, the Common Cents Act (H.R. 10167), that is waiting on the President.

Key findings

• 19 states have a merchant rounding law. 15 allow rounding and 4 require it for at least some sellers. Counting New Mexico and Oklahoma, which round only government payments, 21 states have acted.
• Required in 4 states, on different clocks. Georgia since July 1, 2026. Indiana for cash sales after December 31, 2026. California from July 1, 2027. Arizona requires it of any seller that no longer has or uses pennies, and makes them post a notice.
• The common rule is symmetrical rounding. Arizona, Nebraska and Oklahoma, for example, round totals ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents down and 3, 4, 8 or 9 up. The U.S. Treasury’s penny FAQ (December 23, 2025) points to the same method. Hawaii and Nebraska round a total of 1 or 2 cents up to 5 cents. Indiana lets a business round down, up, or to the nearest nickel.
• Sales tax is figured before rounding. Arizona and Indiana spell this out, and Virginia ordered its Department of Taxation to report on sales tax effects by November 1, 2026.
• 175,463 cash-heavy small businesses sit in states with a merchant rule. That is 46% of the 381,566 beauty salons, barber shops, laundromats, food trucks and limited-service restaurants counted by BLS in 2026 Q1.
• 5 more states have live bills. New York (A09274, passed one chamber), New Jersey (A5233, passed one chamber), Pennsylvania (HB2388, passed one chamber), Michigan (SB1014, introduced), Ohio (HB737, introduced).

Which states have penny rounding laws?

The South and West moved first. In the Northeast, only Connecticut and Vermont have passed rounding laws so far, though bills are moving in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Penny rounding laws in every state

Click a column header to sort. “Official text” links go to the state legislature or agency page we checked. A blank effective date means the law takes effect on the state’s standard date or we could not confirm a specific one.

“Cash-heavy small businesses” = private establishments in beauty salons (NAICS 812112), barber shops (812111), coin-operated laundries and drycleaners (812310), mobile food services (722330) and limited-service restaurants (722513), BLS QCEW 2026 Q1. A dash or zero can mean BLS suppressed a small count.

Which businesses feel penny rounding most?

Rounding matters most where customers still pay with bills and coins and tickets are small. A $6.48 coffee rounds to $6.50 under the common rule. That 2 cents doesn’t matter once. Over thousands of cash sales a year, it shows up in your drawer count, and you need a rule your customers trust.

What penny rounding means for your business

Check the cash and card workflows together when choosing a payment system. Our salon booking and payments guide and plumbing invoices and payments guide explain setup for two service-business models that collect directly from customers.

• Find your state’s rule first. Use the table above. If your state requires rounding, you have to do it. If it allows rounding, you can choose. If there’s no law, round down (in the customer’s favor) or keep giving exact change.
• Round only cash, and only the final total. Ring up items and tax to the cent, then round the total if the customer pays cash. Card payments stay exact.
• Post a sign. Arizona requires one. Everywhere else, it heads off arguments at the register: “Cash totals are rounded to the nearest 5 cents.”
• Update your register or POS. Most point-of-sale systems have a cash rounding setting. Turn it on and test a few totals before your first shift.
• Salons, barbers and food trucks. Cash and tips go together in these businesses. Price services in round amounts (say $35, not $34.99) and the issue mostly disappears. See our hair salon and food truck startup guides, and the salon break-even calculator.
• Thinking of a cash surcharge or card fee instead? Card surcharges have their own rules. See credit card swipe fees by state and junk fee laws by state.

How we did this

• Finding bills. We searched LegiScan’s national bill database for 2025-2026 bills on cash rounding, pennies, one-cent coins and nickel rounding, then filtered to bills marked enacted.
• Verifying laws. For each enacted bill, we opened the chaptered or enrolled text, or the bill status page, on the official state legislature website (and the state revenue department notice where one exists) and read the rounding section. We count a state only if that official text confirms it. We left out resolutions and studies (for example, a Louisiana study resolution).
• Categories. “Required” means the law says a business “shall” or “must” round at least some cash sales. “Allowed” means “may,” “authorized,” or a safe harbor from deceptive-practice claims (Tennessee). “Government only” covers laws that round only payments to state or local government.
• Federal status. Congress.gov actions for H.R. 10167. Treasury guidance: “Penny Production Cessation FAQs,” U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• Businesses. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2026 Q1, private establishments by state for NAICS 812112, 812111, 812310, 722330 and 722513.

Caveats

• This page is not legal advice. Some laws have exceptions (for example, Alabama’s excludes payments to government) and details on signs, tax and records. Read your state’s text.
• Bills are moving fast. We recheck LegiScan weekly and confirm any change on the official site before updating this page.
• Some effective dates follow a state’s standard rule for new laws. Where the official text did not state a date, we left it blank.

Laws are public records; BLS data is public domain. This page has no ads or affiliate links. Cite as: StartBusinessByState, “Penny Rounding Laws by State,” updated October 6, 2026, https://startbusinessbystate.com/cash-rounding-laws-by-state/

Related research

• Credit card swipe fees by state.
• Junk fee laws by state.
• Sales tax on services by state.
• Salon industry statistics and food truck industry statistics.

FAQ

Last updated October 6, 2026. Laws checked October 6, 2026. Pending bills rechecked weekly.