A recent proposed amendment from the Department of Revenue could be harmful to our business community. Please review the following pending change. 

This proposed amendment (https://dor.mo.gov/resources/proposed-rules/documents/P-_12_CSR_10-103-555_Proposed_Amendment.pdf) from the Department of Revenue includes a change that would require retailers and businesses that provide taxable services to charge sales tax on any fee they charge customers for using a credit card:

Credit card fees that a seller charges a customer who chooses to use a credit card as a form of payment to offset the fees the seller has to pay to the credit card company are subject to tax. There are many names a seller may call this fee, including but not limited to, credit card fee, credit card surcharge, convenience fee, etc. This is not the extension of credit or a finance charge.

They offer this example later in the proposed amendment:

A retailer makes a sale for $50, which the customer pays for using a credit card. The retailer charges the customer a $3 credit card fee for using the credit card. Sales tax should be collected and remitted on $53, which is the $50 price of the merchandise plus the additional $3 charge for paying with a credit card.

To submit comments about the negative impact this proposed amendment will have, people can visit this link: https://dor.mo.gov/resources/proposed-rules/comment-form/?rid=461. The deadline to submit comments is October 31, 2025.

Here is a ready-to-submit comment for chamber members to use (copy/paste & personalize)

To the Missouri Department of Revenue:

I am a [business owner/manager] at [Business Name, City]. I am writing to oppose the proposed amendment to 12 CSR 10-103.555 that would require sales tax to be collected on credit-card/surcharge/convenience fees charged to customers who pay by card.

How this affects my business and customers:

·    Higher costs / price increases. Card fees are a pass-through cost of payment acceptance. Taxing them forces me to raise prices for everyone or stop accepting certain cards.

·    Thin margins. My business operates on tight margins; taxing fees on top of interchange adds expense without adding value.

·    Administrative burden. Reprogramming POS/e-commerce systems to include card fees in the tax base (and to handle returns, split tenders, tips, and exemptions) increases errors and compliance costs.

·    Customer fairness. This effectively taxes a payment choice, not the product or service.

Requested change: Please exclude separately stated card acceptance fees from taxable gross receipts when they simply recoup processing costs, and clarify that bona fide cash discounts remain outside the taxable base beyond the discounted sales price.

Thank you for your consideration.