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Committee substitutes NCSL-aligned sales-tax rounding language after retailer concerns
Summary
Legislators voted to strip LC 590439S and replace it with LC 620428S to align Georgia's cash-transaction rounding with National Conference of State Legislatures guidance: aggregate transaction totals would be rounded to the nearest nickel (some pennies up, some down) rather than always rounding down; retailers had warned a 'round down' rule was problematic.
The committee reviewed a sales-tax rounding provision and competing bill language. A representative explained that National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) guidance would round aggregate transaction totals to the nearest nickel: certain final-digit pennies would round down while others would round up so the effect balances over many transactions.
Retail representatives and legislative members said a House-passed version had used a straight 'round down' rule, which retailers said would be problematic on many small items. Committee members agreed that NCSL-aligned language would reduce unfair margins against merchants and bring Georgia's rule in line with other states. Senator Gooch and others asked technical questions about blended cash/gift-card transactions and whether retailers would need programming changes; witnesses including Georgia Retailers said they supported the NCSL approach.
A motion to strip LC 590439S and replace it with LC 620428S was seconded and adopted unanimously.
