Penny Rounding Laws

Tennessee penny rounding law

Optional symmetric rounding when a business has no exact change; rounding is exempt from Consumer Protection Act claims. Tax still due to the cent.

Updated · Based on official sources listed below

Optional
Businesses may round cash totals
March 18, 2026
In effect since
No
Customer sign required by law
Unrounded
Sales tax is figured on the pre-rounding price

Tennessee 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¢

The rounding rule

A private entity that does business with the public and accepts cash, and does not have exact change available during a cash transaction, may round the total transaction amount to the nearest nickel: 1–2 cents down, 3–4 cents up, 6–7 cents down, 8–9 cents up.

Who it applies to

Private businesses (and their employees or contractors) that accept cash from the public, and financial institutions giving currency in exchange for a payment instrument. Government entities are not covered.

Customer notice

No customer sign is required.

Make a printable Tennessee cash rounding sign.

Sales tax

Public Chapter 602 does not change the sales tax bracket rule in Tenn. Code § 67-6-504(h). Calculate sales tax to the penny and remit the exact tax shown on the receipt. More on sales tax and cash rounding.

What is not rounded

Pennies, enforcement and safe harbors

Rounding applies only when exact change is not available.

Rounding a cash transaction to the nearest nickel when the penny is no longer in production is exempt from the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act (Tenn. Code § 47-18-111(a)).

The law

LawHB 1744 / SB 1810, Public Chapter 602 (2026)
SignedMarch 18, 2026
EffectiveMarch 18, 2026 (effective on becoming law)
StatusLaw in effect

Checked against the sources below as of October 30, 2026. Compare other states in the state-by-state tracker.

Frequently asked questions

Does Tennessee require cash rounding?
No. Public Chapter 602 lets a business round when it lacks exact change. Its main effect is a safe harbor: symmetric rounding cannot be challenged as a deceptive practice under the Consumer Protection Act.
Can a Tennessee store round if it has pennies?
The law covers businesses that do not have exact change available. If you can make exact change, the rounding provision does not apply.
Does Tennessee's rounding apply to card payments?
No. Electronic transactions are not rounded. Only cash is rounded.

Related

Sources

  1. Tennessee Public Chapter 602 (2026), HB 1744 / SB 1810