←back to thread

460 points andrewl | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.2s | source
Show context
Amorymeltzer ◴[] No.45903482[source]
Some interesting complications with rounding I had not heard about before were mentioned here, worth noting I think, especially given the prominence of SNAP in the news lately:

>Four states - Delaware, Connecticut, Michigan and Oregon - as well as numerous cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Washington, DC, require merchants to provide exact change, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).

>In addition, the law covering the federal food assistance program known as SNAP requires that recipients not be charged more than other customers. Since SNAP recipients use a debit card that’s charged the precise amount, if merchants round down prices for cash purchases, they could be opening themselves to legal problems and fines, said Jeff Lenard, spokesperson for NACS.

>“Rounding down on all transactions presents several challenges beyond the loss of an average of 2 cents per transaction,” Lenard said. “We desperately need legislation that allows rounding so retailers can make change for these customers.”

replies(6): >>45903640 #>>45903663 #>>45903907 #>>45904222 #>>45906009 #>>45907738 #
nofriend ◴[] No.45903663[source]
just make the price a multiple of five cents
replies(1): >>45903695 #
mattnewton ◴[] No.45903695[source]
State and local taxes make this infeasible
replies(9): >>45903774 #>>45903855 #>>45903859 #>>45903884 #>>45904011 #>>45904546 #>>45905231 #>>45905307 #>>45905600 #
1. drdec ◴[] No.45905307[source]
It's the same way with the penny.

Tax on a 0.99 item isn't coming out to an exact penny multiple.

So stores are already dealing with this situation