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In light of the discontinuation of penny production by the U.S. Treasury and the resulting nationwide shortage, we have updated OnTrac to include a function to round all cash payments to the nearest nickel. This is based on a proposed bill called the Common Cents Act.
In light of the discontinuation of penny production by the U.S. Treasury and the resulting nationwide shortage, we have updated OnTrac to include a function to round all cash payments to the nearest nickel. This is based on a proposed bill called the Common Cents Act.
The legislation is called the Common Cents Act. Its primary goals: Direct the United States Department of the Treasury to stop minting the penny (one-cent coin) for general circulation. Require that cash transactions be rounded up or down to the nearest five cents (i.e., the nearest nickel) — effectively replacing pennies with a nickel-based rounding system. The rationale: producing pennies has become economically wasteful — the cost of minting a penny significantly exceeds its face value. The bill also preserves status of existing pennies: any penny minted before enactment remains legal tender.
The rounding applies only to cash payments — electronic payments (credit cards, digital wallets, etc.) are not affected. The proposed standard rounding method is "symmetric" rounding: If the total ends in 1 or 2 cents → round down to the previous nickel (e.g. $4.02 → $4.00). If it ends in 3 or 4 cents → round up to next nickel ($4.03 or $4.04 → $4.05). If it ends in 6 or 7 cents → round down to 5 cents ($4.06 → $4.05). If it ends in 8 or 9 cents → round up to the next nickel/dime (e.g. $4.08 → $4.10). Transactions ending in 0 or 5 cents remain unchanged. According to economic-analysis (e.g. from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond), this rounding will likely have a negligible impact on inflation overall; the so-called "rounding tax" — extra cost to consumers — is expected to be minimal.
The full bill text is available on the official U.S. Congress legislation site: under H.R. 3074 — the Common Cents Act. The text comes in multiple formats (HTML, PDF, TXT) on that page. A helpful explainer page (from the bill's sponsors) summarizing its background and intent is also available.
The bill has been introduced and reported in the House (as of September 2025) — but as of now it is not law. Because no federal guidance existed until now, some retailers began unilaterally rounding — leading to confusion, operational headaches, and even potential legal risk.
