# Why cash and card come to different amounts

The same basket, paid two ways. Card is charged to the cent; only cash is rounded. This is intended behaviour, not a bug in the register.

**$21.66, exactly. Card and electronic payments are not rounded — they are still priced to the cent.**

> Not legal, tax, or accounting advice. Federal rounding legislation was not enacted as of September 2026, state law varies and is changing, and a practice that is lawful in one state may not be in another. This computes arithmetic under the rule you selected; it does not tell you which rule applies to your business.

## The order of operations

| Step | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Subtotal, exact | $19.99 |
| Tax at 8.375%, on the exact subtotal | $1.67 |
| Total, exact (what a card is charged) | $21.66 |
| Rounding — No rounding | +0¢ |
| **Due in card** | **$21.66** |

The total ends in 6. Under symmetric rounding 1, 2, 6 and 7 round down; 3, 4, 8 and 9 round up; 0 and 5 stand.

## Read before relaying this

### Rounding applies to cash only (caution)

Card, electronic transfer, and gift-card payments are still priced to the cent. The same basket can therefore come to two different amounts depending on how it is paid for, and that is the intended behaviour rather than a bug — rounding exists because exact change is impossible without the penny, which is not a problem a card has.

### Round the final total, after tax — never per item (caution)

Line items, fees, and tax are each computed in exact cents first, and only the final amount is rounded. Rounding per item multiplies the effect by the size of the basket, and rounding the tax base makes the register disagree with the tax authority. Every state framework enacted so far applies rounding after tax is calculated.

### Rounding rule "symmetric" was not applied (info)

The tender is a card, so the exact total stands. The requested rule was ignored rather than honoured, because applying it would be the mistake this tool exists to catch.

**What to do:** Set tender to cash to see what the same basket would round to.

### The penny is still money (info)

Production ended on 2025-11-12, but existing pennies remain legal tender indefinitely. Production stopping is not demonetisation, and a customer paying in exact change with pennies is paying in valid currency.

### There is no federal rounding law yet (caution)

Common Cents Act (H.R.3074 / S.1525) passed the House on 2026-07-14 and the Senate on 2026-08-07, but as different bill numbers, so the House must still pass the Senate version before it can be enacted. Until then rounding is governed by state law, which varies — and the federal bill is permissive rather than mandatory anyway. Verified 2026-09-04; check for changes.

**What to do:** Check your own state law. This tool does not know where you are.

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Canonical URL: https://penny-rounding.gumballtools.com/rounding/cash-vs-card-same-basket
JSON API: `GET https://penny-rounding.gumballtools.com/api/v1/settle?subtotal=19.99&taxRatePercent=8.25`
MCP endpoint: `https://penny-rounding.gumballtools.com/api/mcp`