Requires merchants to round cash purchases to the nearest five cent denomination in order to encourage the reduction of the circulation of pennies within New York state.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8580
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
November 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring
merchants to round cash purchases to the nearest five cent denomi-
nation in order to reduce the circulation of pennies within New York
state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "New Yorkers for Common Cents Act".
3 § 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
4 399-ooo to read as follows:
5 § 399-ooo. 1. For the purposes of this section, the following terms
6 shall have the following meanings:
7 (a) "Merchant" shall mean any person, corporation, or partnership
8 engaged in the business of the sale of goods or services engaging in
9 face-to-face, in-person sales.
10 (b) "Legal tender" shall mean all coins and currencies of the United
11 States.
12 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any
13 merchant doing business in this state shall determine the total price of
14 such goods or services in the following manner:
15 (a) prices of goods and services shall be totaled, any discount or
16 deduction therefor made, and sales tax or other tax imposed, if any,
17 added to that total in accordance with the law of the municipality in
18 which such goods or services are sold; and
19 (b)(i) if a mill, one cent, two cents, six cents, or seven cents is at
20 the end of the resulting sum, that sum shall be rounded down to the
21 nearest amount divisible by five for those individuals seeking to pay
22 therefor with legal tender; or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11817-02-5
S. 8580 2
1 (ii) if three cents, four cents, eight cents, or nine cents is at the
2 end of the resulting sum, that sum shall be rounded up to the nearest
3 amount divisible by five for those individuals seeking to pay therefor
4 with legal tender.
5 3. The provisions of subdivision one of this section shall not apply
6 to the following:
7 (a) transactions for which the total amount is four cents or less; or
8 (b) transactions for which payment is made by any demand or negotiable
9 instrument, electronic fund transfer, money order, credit card, debit
10 card, electronic payment, or other like instrument.
11 4. Any tax imposed by state or municipal taxing authorities shall not
12 apply to gains or losses resulting from rounding.
13 5. The superintendent of the department of financial services may
14 promulgate regulations to implement this section, including, but not
15 limited to, authorization of exemptions or exclusions from this section.
16 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
17 it shall have become a law.
