Which cash totals go up or down
California's newly signed AB 1793 creates statewide cash-rounding rules that become operative July 1, 2027. Governor Gavin Newsom's September 30 signed-bill list confirms enactment, and October 2 reporting highlights the change. It is a future checkout rule, not permission to round every transaction today.
The statutory text rounds totals ending in one, two, six or seven cents down to the nearest five-cent amount. Totals ending in three, four, eight or nine cents round up. It operates on the total transaction price, including applicable taxes, fees and surcharges, rather than separately rounding every item.
The rule does not change the tax calculation
Payments made entirely by cards or other specified noncash methods are excluded. For mixed payments, the cash portion is rounded while the amount settled through a noncash system stays exact. Refunds paid wholly or partly in cash follow the rounding framework too. Transactions totaling two cents or less are excepted.
The statute says rounding is disregarded when computing tax and prohibits collecting more than the rounded amount allowed. Keep the receipt if the arithmetic looks wrong. A one-cent price ending does not by itself predict the final adjustment once tax and other items enter the total. The signed law standardizes that final cash calculation; it does not impose a blanket upward rounding charge.