Washington cash rounding law

Washington permits, but does not require, sellers and state agencies to round the total price or change due of an in-person cash transaction to the nearest five cents, with endings of 1, 2, 6, or 7 rounding down and 3, 4, 8, or 9 rounding up. Non-cash tender is excluded, and a customer may always pay the exact unrounded price with exact legal tender. Effective June 11, 2026 under SHB 2334 (Chapter 138, Laws of 2026).

Tax base is pre-rounded. Sales and use tax are calculated and remitted on the pre-rounding price, and the act expressly states that nothing in it authorizes rounding the amount of sales tax due. B&O tax treatment of rounding differences is separately clarified: round-up excess is not gross income, and round-down amounts are not deductible.

Cash portion only. In mixed-tender transactions rounding applies only to the portion paid in cash and must not alter the exact amounts authorized, cleared, or settled through any noncash payment system.

Two express protections. No action taken in compliance with the rounding section violates any state or municipal requirement, law, regulation, or standard. Separately, a rounding-caused inconsistency with a displayed or advertised price is not actionable under the Consumer Protection Act (chapter 19.86 RCW), a narrow carve-out limited to price-display mismatches. Rounding regulation is declared a matter of statewide concern, preempting local ordinances that restrict or penalize lawful rounding.