Rounding for SNAP/EBT, cards, refunds and wages

Card, debit, check and app payments

Never rounded. Every state law we track and the federal Common Cents Act exclude non-cash payments by name: credit and debit cards, checks and other negotiable instruments, electronic fund transfers, money orders, gift cards, and (in California) cryptocurrency. These are charged to the exact cent.

SNAP, EBT and WIC

• The EBT portion is exact. SNAP and eWIC benefits are electronic transfers, so the benefit portion of a sale is never rounded.
• Equal treatment. Federal SNAP rules require stores to sell eligible food to SNAP customers at the same prices and on the same terms as cash customers (7 CFR § 278.2(b)). Retail trade groups wrote to USDA in October 2025 asking for confirmation that nickel rounding of cash sales does not violate this rule. As of October 30, 2026 we have not found published USDA guidance answering that request.
• State law silence. None of the state laws we track mentions SNAP, EBT or WIC. Vermont excludes any transaction where federal law prohibits rounding.
• Practical approach: round only the cash a customer pays, symmetrically, and never round the EBT amount. Symmetric rounding moves cash totals both ways, which is the strongest argument that SNAP customers are not treated worse.

Split payments (card or EBT plus cash)

Cash refunds

• California (from July 1, 2027): cash refunds are rounded the same way as sales.
• Idaho: the rounding law covers cash refunds when the seller cannot settle to the cent.
• Vermont: a cash refund must equal the exact amount the buyer originally paid.
• Everywhere else the laws are silent. The cleanest practice is to refund the cash the customer actually paid: if you collected $7.80 on a $7.81 sale, refund $7.80.

The calculator handles refunds: choose “Cash refund”.

Cash wages and payouts

• Virginia lets employers paying cash wages round to the nearest 5¢.
• Nebraska: a 1¢ or 2¢ cash payout to an employee must be rounded up to 5¢.
• Vermont excludes wages from rounding.
• The federal Common Cents Act, if enacted, would require employers that round cash wages to round up.

Rounding the change instead of the total

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland and Washington let a business round the change it hands back instead of the total. Maryland and Nebraska say to pick one: round the total or the change, never both on the same sale.