Maryland's Cash Law Starts October 1: Does Your Food Business Have to Take Cash?

Starting October 1, 2026, a new Maryland law requires many merchants to accept cash for food, drinks and other essential goods. It covers in-person sales under $300 between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. For a food business, the question is whether one of two exclusions fits. The first covers a merchant that sells to the public primarily food or beverages for on-premises consumption. The second covers a merchant that sells primarily a limited variety of gourmet or specialty foods. The law doesn't define "primarily." If your business clearly fits neither, plan to take cash at the counter on October 1, or use a cash-to-card machine that meets the law's conditions.

What the law requires

The law is Chapter 714 of 2026 (House Bill 191). It adds section 14-1330 to Maryland's Commercial Law Article. The governor approved it on May 26, 2026.

• Which goods it covers. "Essential consumer goods" are:
  • food, for people and animals
  • water, including ice, and other beverages
  • personal hygiene products, including toiletries and cleaning products
  • health products
  • fuel
• Which sales it covers. It applies only to an in-person transaction at a retail establishment totaling less than $300. An earlier version of the bill had a $5 minimum. The enacted law has no minimum.
• What a merchant may not do between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
  • refuse a cash payment for an essential consumer good
  • require a credit or debit card
  • charge more for a cash payment than for an equivalent cashless transaction, "whether or not the difference in price is described as a fee"

The two exclusions a food business should check

The section doesn't apply to a transaction with a merchant that sells to the public primarily:

1. food or beverages for on-premises consumption, or
2. a limited variety of gourmet or specialty foods, including cheeses, fruits, nuts, candy, spices and oils.

These are two separate tests, so check both. Local coverage such as The MoCo Show's summary reports the "primarily" qualifier. The harder part is applying it to your own business. The law sets no percentage. It doesn't say whether "primarily" is measured by sales, tickets or some other test. As of September 26, 2026, we couldn't find guidance on this law from the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division.

Sales outside this section

The section also excludes:

• telephone, mail or Internet transactions
• vending machine or kiosk transactions
• fuel from a seller that requires a paid membership

Its rules cover in-person transactions under $300, between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Being outside this section isn't a general permission to go cashless. Other state or local rules may still apply. Check these two situations separately before deciding your cash policy:

• an order placed online but paid for in person at pickup
• which other rules apply to sales outside this section’s 6 a.m.–10 p.m. window

Don't treat either as settled until you've confirmed it with the Consumer Protection Division or your own attorney.

What you may still do

• Decline large bills. A merchant may refuse cash in a denomination greater than $20.
• Use a cash-to-card machine instead of taking cash. The machine must be on your premises and convert cash into a prepaid card the customer can use at your establishment. You can't charge a fee or require a deposit. If the machine malfunctions or stops working, you must accept cash until it's back in normal operation.
• Round in line with other law. A merchant may collect an extra amount of up to 4 cents "when rounding the price for an essential consumer good in accordance with applicable law." That depends on rounding that other law allows. It isn't permission for a cash-handling fee.

A decision check

1. Do you sell food, beverages or other essential goods to the public in person? If not, this section doesn't reach you.
2. Do you sell to the public primarily food or beverages for on-premises consumption? Write down why you think so, and what evidence you have.
3. Do you sell to the public primarily a limited variety of gourmet or specialty foods? Write that down too.
4. If the answer to both 2 and 3 is no or "not sure," plan to accept cash in covered sales, or install a compliant cash-to-card machine, before October 1. Ask the Consumer Protection Division or your attorney if you need a firmer answer.

Your POS can show how your in-person tickets split between dine-in and takeout. That's useful to bring to the conversation. On its own, it doesn't show whether an exclusion applies.

A worked example (hypothetical)

A neighborhood bakery sells bread, pastries, sandwiches and coffee. It has eight seats and a card-only self-order kiosk. Last month its POS recorded 1,000 in-person counter tickets: 700 marked takeout and 300 dine-in, or 70% takeout.

The 70% figure doesn't decide anything by itself, because the law sets no threshold. The owner has not confirmed whether the bakery meets either exclusion, including the gourmet or specialty-food exclusion. Rather than infer a legal classification from the menu or ticket percentages, the owner decides to take cash at the counter from October 1 while counsel reviews applicability. For the checkout examples below, assume the counter transaction is covered; this is not a ruling on the bakery’s exemption. Here is how those checkouts would work:

• 8:15 a.m. A coffee ($3.50) and two croissants ($3.95 each) come to $11.40. The customer offers a $50 bill. The bakery may decline the $50, since it's over $20, but it can't refuse the payment in $20s or smaller bills. The cash total is $11.40, the same as the card price. No cash fee is added.
• Kiosk transactions are excluded from this section. The bakery checks any other applicable rules before keeping its kiosk card-only; guests who want to pay cash can use the counter.
• A $340 catering order paid at the counter is $300 or more, so it's outside this section. The bakery still checks whether any other rule applies.

A checklist before October 1

1. Make the coverage decision, write down the reasoning, and keep the evidence you relied on.
2. Turn on a cash tender at each register handling covered in-person transactions. Set up a change fund, drawer counts and safe drops.
3. Remove any cash surcharge from menus, signs and POS pricing rules. If you show separate cash and card prices, make sure the cash price is never higher.
4. Decide whether you'll decline bills over $20, and give staff one clear sentence to say.
5. If you use a cash-to-card machine, confirm it's on premises, free and deposit-free, and that its cards work at your registers. Write a "machine down, take cash" procedure.
6. Replace "card only" or "cashless" signs at covered registers.
7. Train every shift lead on the difference between the counter, the kiosk and online orders.

Enforcement

A violation is an unfair, abusive or deceptive trade practice under Maryland's Consumer Protection Act. The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division must give a merchant at least two separate opportunities to comply. After that, the merchant faces a fine of up to $500 for each violation. A merchant who violates the law again after being fined faces up to $1,000 for each later violation. The law makes these civil penalties. It also says certain general penalty sections of the Act don't apply to this law. The enacted amounts replaced the $5,000 and $10,000 figures in the bill as introduced.

Limits of this answer

This covers Maryland's section 14-1330 only. It isn't legal advice, and it doesn't decide whether a particular business is covered. For your situation, ask the Consumer Protection Division or your own attorney, and check the bill page for any later changes.

Sources

• Chapter 714 (HB 191), 2026 Laws of Maryland, enacted text
• HB 191 bill page, Maryland General Assembly
• Fiscal and Policy Note, enrolled and revised, Department of Legislative Services