A proposal addressing how Florida retailers will handle cash transactions now that pennies are no longer being minted has cleared its first Senate committee stop.
The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee approved the bill (SB 1074) without debate or amendment. Sen. Don Gaetz, the bill sponsor, told lawmakers that Federal Reserve regional vaults stopped distributing pennies last month, leaving retailers unable to provide exact change in cash transactions when 1-cent coins are unavailable.
“Retailers will have no choice but to round to the nearest nickel for cash customers,” Gaetz said.
“As you know President (Donald) Trump ended the production of pennies, so now we’re moving to a pennyless economy. This bill tries to provide some guidance to help retailers know how to proceed.”
Under the bill, in-person cash transactions ending in 1 or 2 cents would be rounded down, while amounts ending in 3 or 4 cents would be rounded up to the nearest nickel. Transactions ending in 6 or 7 cents would be rounded down to a nickel, and those ending in 8 or 9 cents would be rounded up to the nearest dime.
The rounding requirement would apply only to cash purchases. Sales tax would be calculated before rounding occurs, ensuring the amount of tax owed does not increase or decrease because of the adjustment.
SB 1074 also amends Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act to specify that rounding cash transactions under these circumstances would not constitute a deceptive or unfair trade practice.
The Senate bill now advances to the Finance and Tax Committee, its second of three committee stops.
Sarasota Republican Rep. Fiona McFarland filed HB 951, the House version of the proposal, earlier this month.
