Penny Rounding Laws

Cash rounding calculator

The U.S. Mint stopped making pennies in November 2025, and states now set the rules for rounding cash totals. Enter a total, pick a state, and see what to collect.

Updated · Based on official sources listed below

Cash rounding calculator

Enter a cash total, or item prices plus your sales tax rate. The result updates as you type.

What do you have?
Transaction
Only the methods the state allows are listed.
Shows the change due.

Turn on JavaScript to use the calculator. The rule: totals ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents round down to the nearest nickel; 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents round up.

How each ending cent rounds under this rule

  1. …0¢…0¢same
  2. …1¢…0¢−1¢
  3. …2¢…0¢−2¢
  4. …3¢…5¢+2¢
  5. …4¢…5¢+1¢
  6. …5¢…5¢same
  7. …6¢…5¢−1¢
  8. …7¢…5¢−2¢
  9. …8¢…0¢+2¢
  10. …9¢…0¢+1¢

How cash rounding works

Almost every state law and the federal Common Cents Act use the same symmetric rule, often called Swedish rounding. You total the sale first, including sales tax, then round only the final cash amount:

Total ends inRounds toExample
1¢ or 2¢0¢ (down)$7.81 → $7.80
3¢ or 4¢5¢ (up)$12.43 → $12.45
6¢ or 7¢5¢ (down)$4.97 → $4.95
8¢ or 9¢next 0¢ (up)$9.99 → $10.00
0¢ or 5¢no change$5.25 → $5.25

Over many sales the ups and downs roughly cancel out. Card, debit, EBT and app payments are never rounded; they are charged to the exact cent.

Where the rules differ

States with enacted cash rounding laws

As of October 30, 2026, we count 18 states with an enacted law covering private cash sales, 3 with laws covering only government payments, 12 with official guidance but no statute, and 3 more with bills pending.

Oregon also enacted a law (HB 4178); we list its details as reported until we can verify the final text. The federal Common Cents Act has passed Congress but, as of October 30, 2026, we found no record of it being signed.

Frequently asked questions

Is it legal for a store to round up a cash total?
In states with a symmetric rounding law, yes for totals ending in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents, as long as totals ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents are rounded down. Rounding every sale up is a different matter: Arizona bans any method but symmetric rounding, and Connecticut’s guidance until 2027 allows rounding down only. Your rights as a customer.
Do stores still have to accept pennies?
Pennies remain legal tender, but federal law does not force a private business to accept any particular coin or bill unless a state law says so. Georgia’s law requires merchants to accept exact payment including pennies, and Washington lets customers pay the exact total if they have exact change.
Does rounding apply to card payments?
No. Every state law we track, and the federal bill, applies rounding only to cash. Card, debit, EBT, check and app payments are charged the exact amount.
Is sales tax calculated before or after rounding?
Before. You compute tax on the actual price, collect the rounded cash total, and remit the exact tax. Rounding never changes the tax owed. Details by state.
What happens to a 2-cent cash purchase?
Under plain symmetric rounding it would round to $0.00, so several states set a floor: Georgia, Hawaii and Maryland round 1¢ or 2¢ totals up to 5¢, while California leaves totals of 2¢ or less unrounded.
Do I round each item or the total?
Only the final total after tax. Every state law we track rounds the final cash amount (or, in some states, the change), never individual item prices.
Are pennies still legal tender?
Yes. The Mint stopped producing circulating pennies, but existing pennies remain legal tender for all debts. Federal status of the penny.

Related

Sources

  1. Arizona Laws 2026, Ch. 5 (HB 2938), A.R.S. § 44-7952
  2. Georgia HB 1112 (2026), text as passed
  3. California AB 1793 (2026), Ch. 896
  4. Indiana HEA 1406 (2026), P.L. 162-2026
  5. H.R. 10167 (119th Congress), Common Cents Act, enrolled bill text (GovInfo)
  6. U.S. Mint press release (Nov. 12, 2025): ceremonial strike for final production of the circulating one-cent coin