Credit card processing and merchant services in Colorado

Under C.R.S. 5-2-212, a seller may surcharge a credit or charge card up to either 2% of the total cost of the sale or the merchant discount fee it incurs, defined as the actual fee it pays its processor or service provider to process the transaction. The surcharge must appear as a separate line item on the customer's receipt.

If you use the 2% option, post this exact wording where customers can see it, or show it online before checkout: "To cover the cost of processing a credit or charge card transaction, and pursuant to section 5-2-212, Colorado Revised Statutes, a seller or lessor may impose a processing surcharge in an amount not to exceed 2% of the total payment made for goods or services purchased or leased by use of a credit or charge card. A seller or lessor shall not impose a processing surcharge on payments made by use of cash, a check, or a debit card or redemption of a gift card."

SB21-091 bars a surcharge on cash or check payments, debit card payments and gift card redemptions. A merchant that surcharges in violation of the act is liable as a creditor under the Uniform Consumer Credit Code. The Attorney General's office lists an administrative opinion on the amended statute, dated June 29, 2022, if you want the regulator's reading.

Card network rules apply on top. Visa caps credit card surcharges at your merchant discount rate or 3% and requires 30 days' notice to your acquirer, and Mastercard caps them at your average effective rate or 4%. A merchant discount fee above 3% can't be passed on in full to Visa cardholders.

C.R.S. 11-61-102 requires a retail establishment offering goods or services to accept U.S. currency when someone takes payment in person. Failing to accept cash is a civil infraction with a fine of up to $250 per transaction or attempted transaction.

A store with more than one point of sale at an address complies if at least one of them accepts cash. The law doesn't apply where the main way of selling is an automatic renewal contract, and it has a few other narrow exceptions.

Colorado's state sales tax is 2.9%. A sale may also be subject to state-administered local sales taxes and to self-collected home-rule city sales taxes, which the Department of Revenue doesn't administer. Self-collected cities set their own rules on what they tax, so check with each one directly.

SUTS, the state's Sales and Use Tax System, lets you file a single consolidated return and payment for state-collected taxes and most home-rule city taxes.

HB25-1090, Protections Against Deceptive Pricing Practices, took effect January 1, 2026. The Division of Real Estate's summary describes the total price as all amounts that must be paid to purchase, enjoy or use a good, service or property and that are not reasonably avoidable.

If you add mandatory service charges or other required fees, review how you advertise prices with your adviser.