Alabama House Bill HB545

Alabama 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/3/26
• Refer: 3/3/26
• Report Pass: 3/10/26
• Engrossed: 3/19/26
• Refer: 3/31/26
• Report Pass: 4/1/26
• Enrolled: 4/7/26
• Passed: 4/17/26

Caption

Legal tender; authorizing the rounding of in-person cash transactions to the nearest five cents

Summary

HB545 authorizes rounding the total amount of an in-person cash transaction to the nearest five cents. The bill sets out a specific rounding method: amounts ending in 1 or 2 round down, 3 or 4 round up, 6 or 7 round down to the nearest five cents, 8 or 9 round up, and amounts ending in 0 or 5 are unchanged. The measure applies only to cash transactions conducted in person and allows the rounding to be applied either to the transaction total or to the change given to the purchaser. The bill expressly states that rounding does not change the underlying sales price, the amount of sales tax collected, or any other surcharge, assessment, or fee tied to the sale. It also excludes non-cash payments such as credit cards, checks, gift cards, money orders, and electronic transfers, and it does not apply to payments made to governmental entities. The Department of Revenue is required to post notice on its website announcing when rounding is authorized, and the act takes effect immediately.

Impact

HB545 amends Alabama law governing cash transactions by creating express statutory authority for merchants to round in-person cash totals to the nearest five cents. It does not alter sales tax law, tax collection obligations, or the legal amount owed on a sale; instead, it provides a practical cash-handling rule that applies only to the cash portion of a transaction. Government payments and non-cash payment systems remain outside the bill’s scope, limiting its effect to private in-person cash sales and change-making practices.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported. It passed the House overwhelmingly and later passed the second house unanimously, indicating little organized opposition in the recorded votes. The available record shows no committee transcript or extended debate, suggesting the measure was treated as a relatively straightforward administrative or consumer-convenience change rather than a controversial policy shift.

Contention

The main policy issue is the interaction between cash rounding and exact pricing, especially concerns about whether rounding could affect consumers or tax collection. The bill addresses this by explicitly prohibiting any change to the sales price, sales tax, or related fees, and by limiting rounding to cash transactions only. Any remaining concern would likely center on how merchants implement rounding in practice and whether consumers understand that the rule does not apply to card, check, or government payments.