Alabama cash rounding law
HB 545 / Act 2026-548. Enacted Apr 16, 2026; applies Apr 16, 2026. Obligation: Permits. Scope: General retail; excludes government.
Verified against enacted text: September 2, 2026. Primary source.
What a merchant must do
Alabama permits, but does not require, any person conducting an in-person cash transaction to round the total amount to the nearest five cents, with endings of 1 or 2 rounding down, 3 or 4 rounding up to 5, 6 or 7 rounding down to 5, and 8 or 9 rounding up. Transactions in which payment is made to a state or local governmental entity are excluded. Effective on enactment, April 16, 2026, under Act 2026-548 (HB 545).
Tax base treatment
Tax base is pre-rounded. The act provides that rounding does not alter the sales price, the amount of tax collected under Section 40-23-26 or any other sales tax authority, or any surcharges, assessments, or fees imposed on the sale.
Mixed tender treatment
Cash portion only. If a transaction is paid with both cash and another method, rounding applies only to the cash-paid portion. Transactions paid entirely by non-cash methods are excluded.
Liability protection
Authorization only. The act affirmatively authorizes rounding and directs the Department of Revenue to post notice of the authorization, but the enacted text contains no express civil-liability safe harbor or immunity clause.
Related references
- Cash rounding compliance: the category definition and its four failure points
- Legislation tracker: live status across all enacted and pending states
- Cash rounding exposure tool: compare Alabama against the other states you operate in
- Cash rounding laws by state: every enacted statute with citation, applicability date and obligation
- Arizona cash rounding law: obligates, a different obligation structure from Alabama
- Kentucky cash rounding law: obligates govt; permits retail, a different obligation structure from Alabama
- New Mexico cash rounding law: delegation, a different obligation structure from Alabama