California receipt law restricts what a business can print on a credit or debit card receipt, limits what information a cashier can ask you for during a card transaction, requires specific content on receipts in regulated industries, and gives you the right to demand written proof of payment in many situations. Violations can carry civil penalties of $250 to $2,500 per incident, and class action suits have pushed total exposure into the millions.
What a Card Receipt Can and Cannot Show
California Civil Code 1747.09 bars any business that accepts credit or debit cards from printing more than the last five digits of the card number, or the card’s expiration date, on any receipt given to the cardholder.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1747.09 (2025) The rule reaches only electronically printed receipts. Handwritten and manually imprinted slips are exempt, and internal paperwork like batch summary reports is not covered.
Federal law lines up with the state rule. Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g), no business may print more than the last five digits of a card number or the expiration date on an electronically printed point-of-sale receipt.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c That obligation has applied to every business, regardless of size, since December 1, 2006.3Federal Trade Commission. Slip Showing? Federal Law Requires All Businesses to Truncate Credit Card Information on Receipts
California reaches one step further than the federal rule. Its truncation requirement covers the merchant’s own copy of the receipt when that copy is printed at the time of the transaction, whether or not the cardholder signs it.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1747.09 (2025) FACTA addresses only the customer’s copy.
What a Cashier Can Ask You For
Separate from what prints on the receipt, the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act (Civil Code 1747.08) governs what a business can collect from you during a credit card purchase. A merchant cannot require your address, phone number, or ZIP code as a condition of running the sale unless the information is needed for a specific purpose such as shipping or fraud prevention.4California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1747.08 (2025)
The California Supreme Court applied that statute to ZIP codes in Pineda v. Williams-Sonoma Stores, Inc., holding that a ZIP code qualifies as “personal identification information” under the Act. Asking for and recording a cardholder’s ZIP code at checkout, even without any other identifier, violated the law.5Stanford Law School – Robert Crown Law Library. Pineda v. Williams-Sonoma – 51 Cal. 4th 524 The decision ended the retail habit of collecting ZIP codes at the register for marketing analytics.
Keep the two statutes distinct. Section 1747.08 governs what a business can request from you. Section 1747.09 governs what shows up on the printed slip. Merchants often blur the line, and that confusion drives a large share of California receipt litigation.
When You Can Demand a Receipt
California Civil Code 1499 gives any person who delivers money or property in performance of an obligation the right to require a written receipt from the recipient.6California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1499 (2025) This covers a broad range of payments. Pay rent in cash, and your landlord has to give you a written receipt when you ask. The same goes for loan payments, service fees, and other cash transactions where you need proof you paid.
California does not have a single blanket law requiring a receipt for every retail sale. Whether one is owed depends on the type of transaction, the industry, and whether you ask for one. For card purchases, the truncation statutes and the card networks’ own rules effectively guarantee you a receipt in some form. For cash sales, the duty turns on your request and on the seller’s tax compliance obligations.
Receipts That Must Carry Tax Information
When a retailer collects use tax, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration requires the receipt to contain certain details. No particular format is prescribed, but the receipt must show:
- The name and place of business of the retailer
- The serial number of the retailer’s permit or Certificate of Registration
- The name and address of the purchaser
- A description identifying the property sold or leased
- The date of the sale or lease
- The sale price, or for rentals, the amount for the period covered
- The amount of tax collected from the purchaser7California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax Regulations – Regulation 1686
A discount, coupon, or refund should be reflected in the price shown. Sellers that charge sales tax should also list the tax rate and amount separately from the item price.
Industry Rules That Change the Receipt
Auto Repair
A California auto repair dealer has to give you a written estimate before starting work. The estimate must break out parts and labor separately, and each part must be identified as new, used, rebuilt, or reconditioned. Auto body and collision estimates go further, requiring any new crash part to be identified as either an original equipment manufacturer part or an aftermarket part.8New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 16 CCR 3353 – Estimate/Work Order Requirements A shop cannot charge beyond the authorized estimate without getting your approval first.
Home Improvement
A home improvement contract priced over $500 in total must be in writing. It has to list the contractor’s name, business address, and license number, describe the project and the significant materials, and set out the contract price, any finance charges, and the payment schedule. The down payment is capped at $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less.9State of California. What is a Contract? You must receive a signed copy before any work starts, and the contract has to include a notice telling you about your right to cancel.
Emailed Receipts and Your Personal Information
An email address a store collects to send you an e-receipt is personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act. The CCPA requires the business to disclose what it collects, why, and the categories of third parties it shares the information with.10California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA). Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) If a merchant takes your address for a receipt and then uses it for marketing, it needs a lawful basis for that marketing use and has to honor opt-out requests.
The California Privacy Rights Act layers on a right to correct inaccurate personal information and a right to limit the use of sensitive data. Businesses storing electronic receipt data have to put reasonable security measures in place. A breach involving receipt-linked personal information can draw both CCPA/CPRA enforcement and private lawsuits.
Penalties When a Business Gets It Wrong
Asking for Prohibited Information
Under Civil Code 1747.08(e), a business that improperly requests personal identification information during a credit card transaction faces a civil penalty of up to $250 for the first violation and up to $1,000 for each later one.11Justia. California Civil Code Title 1.3 – Credit Cards A customer can pursue the penalty, and so can the Attorney General or a local district attorney or city attorney. The business can escape the penalty by showing the violation was unintentional and the result of a bona fide error despite reasonable procedures. The provision has nonetheless produced significant class action activity against retailers caught collecting ZIP codes or similar data at the register.
Failing to Truncate the Card Number
A business that willfully fails to truncate card numbers on receipts faces liability under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n. A consumer can recover statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation, plus punitive damages and attorney’s fees, with no need to prove actual harm.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681n – Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance “Willful” reaches reckless disregard of the law, not just intentional conduct. The FTC can also bring its own action, with civil penalties up to $2,500 per violation.13Federal Trade Commission. FTC Reminds Businesses – Dont Print Full Credit and Debit Card Numbers on Customers Purchase Receipts
Inadequate Tax Records
The CDTFA treats a failure to keep complete and accurate sales records as evidence of negligence or intent to evade tax, which can lead to penalties or other administrative action.14California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax Regulations – Article 18 – Section: Regulation 1698
When No Receipt Is Required
Not every transaction triggers a receipt obligation. Occasional sellers, such as a household running a garage sale once or twice a year to clear out personal belongings, are generally not treated as retailers subject to sales tax collection and the related receipt rules. California’s administrative practice separates professional sellers, whose sales are taxable, from amateur or occasional ones, whose sales are not.
Digital records substitute for paper in most situations. Under California’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, a record cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic. Subscription services routinely send billing statements or emailed receipts rather than paper slips, and those digital records carry the same legal weight.