Sarasota Republican Rep. Fiona McFarland is pushing legislation that would require Florida retailers to round cash transactions to the nearest nickel now that the penny is no longer in production.
HB 951 would amend state tax and consumer protection law to create a uniform rounding system for cash purchases when exact change cannot be made using 1-cent coins.
The proposal does not eliminate the penny or require businesses to stop accepting it, but establishes rules for rounding now that the penny is no longer being minted.
Under the bill, cash transactions ending in 1 or 2 cents would be rounded down to zero, while amounts ending in 3 or 4 cents would round up to 5 cents. Transactions ending in 6 or 7 cents would round down to 5 cents, and those ending in 8 or 9 cents would round up to the next 10 cents.
Electronic transactions, including credit and debit card purchases, would not be affected. For mixed-tender purchases, rounding would only apply to the cash portion of the transaction.
The bill specifies that sales tax must be calculated before rounding, meaning the amount of tax owed would not increase or decrease because of the adjustment.
In addition, HB 951 would amend Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act to clarify that rounding a consumer sale to the nearest nickel under these circumstances would not be considered a deceptive practice.
The bill, filed Monday, would take effect upon becoming law.
