Earlier this year I went to baseball game and hit one of the many stands selling good old fashioned American beer. As I went to pay for a couple of those American staples, I was told that they did not accept cash…at all. That got me to thinking about that law we all heard that cash “has to be accepted” everywhere in the United States.
I paid with plastic (backed with cash of course) and went back to my seat to do some digging. According to the existing Federal legal tender law (Section 31 U.S.C. 5103)
United States coins and currency [including Federal Reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal Reserve Banks and national banks] are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.
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All that said is that Ben Franklin’s face is legal currency but, there is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. That may be changing…
Congress Has A Bill Ready To Go…With A Caveat
Since 2021 Congress has wrestled with different bipartisan iterations of the “Payment Choice Act“. The 2025 versions in the House and the Senate mandate that retail ‘brick and mortar‘ businesses in the United Sates must accept cash as a form of payment for sales totaling $500 and under.
This year’s versions have met the same fate as previous year’s bills. They’ve been introduced and gone nowhere. That doesn’t mean other States haven’t acted on their own. New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Colorado have laws that require the acceptance of cash. Colorado imposes a fine of $250 for refusal while New Jersey is ten times that amount for violating their law.
Philadelphia, New York City, and San Francisco also have laws in place while their States do not.
What About Washington State?
The State doesn’t have a law, but two Counties do. Both King and Snohomish Counties passed laws after the pandemic requiring retail businesses in unincorporated areas to accept cash. Both laws went into effect this year. King County allows for businesses to apply for a hardship exemption if they can’t comply with the law…