Vermont Credit Card Surcharge Law
Vermont credit card surcharge law permits surcharging outright. No statute in the state's consumer protection code bans it, caps it, or dictates how a dealership discloses it at the counter. The one Vermont statute that keeps surfacing in surcharge searches, 9 V.S.A. 2480p, regulates the card networks themselves, not the store running the terminal. With no state ceiling on the books, the numbers that actually bind a dealership are the ones Visa and Mastercard already publish. This page separates what Vermont law says from what card network rules require, so your service drive can post the right number without guessing.
Vermont Allows Credit Card Surcharging
No ban. No cap. No state disclosure rule either.
As of July 2026, Vermont has no statute banning, capping, or setting disclosure terms for private-merchant credit card surcharges. The state's consumer protection code is silent on the subject entirely, and national trackers list Vermont as carrying no surcharge statute at all. A 2026 bill did put card fees in front of the legislature, but it never became law, covered in full further down this page. With the state layer empty, card network rules do the governing, the same as in every other state where surcharging is legal.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Status | Allowed |
| Cap | Card network caps |
| State statute | None restricting merchants |
| Disclosure | Card network rules |
Vermont is one of 47 states where surcharging is legal. See the full table at credit card surcharge laws by state.
The Card Networks Set the Ceiling
With no Vermont cap on the books, Visa and Mastercard write the actual rules.
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Visa: 3% Cap
In force nationwide since April 2023. Vermont sets no ceiling of its own.
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Mastercard: 4% Cap
Same network standard as Visa, just a higher number.
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Debit Never Surcharges
A flat network rule: debit, prepaid, and gift cards never take a surcharge, and Vermont adds nothing to it.
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Disclosure Is Mandatory
Post notice where a customer walks in and where they pay, then itemize the surcharge on the receipt.
The "4 Percent Maximum" Myth
Some guides publish a 4 percent legal maximum for Vermont, calling it federal law in one breath and state law in the next. Neither is right: no federal law caps credit card surcharges, and Vermont sets no cap of its own. The real ceilings are the card networks' own rules, Visa at 3 percent and Mastercard at 4 percent.
What Vermont Law Actually Regulates
It binds the card networks. It leaves your dealership alone.
Vermont does have one statute on the books about card payments, 9 V.S.A. 2480p, sitting in the consumer protection chapter under the heading Prevention of Credit Card Company Unfair Business Practices. It took effect in January 2011. Read the title closely and the scope is clear: it regulates electronic payment systems, meaning the card networks acting through their merchant contracts, not the dealership running the terminal.
Through those contracts, the law stops a network from doing three things to a merchant. A network cannot keep you from offering a discount or other benefit to a customer who pays by cash, check, debit, or a different card brand instead of credit. A network cannot keep you from setting a minimum purchase of up to $10.00 before you'll run a card, as long as that minimum is posted where a customer can see it. And a network cannot keep you from taking cards at some of your locations while skipping others. None of that changes what a Vermont dealership may add for a customer who chooses to pay by credit.
The penalties in the statute run against a card company that violates it, not against a store, and a merchant who is harmed by a violation can bring a claim of its own. As of July 2026, none of that changes what your dealership charges at the counter, because the law was never written with your side of the transaction in mind.
A 2026 bill briefly put Vermont and card fees in the same headline, but it never became law. S.316, titled An act relating to credit card fees, was introduced and read for the first time on January 27, 2026, then sent to a Senate committee, where it sat until the legislature adjourned on May 29, 2026. It would have stopped card networks from charging their own processing fees on the tax and gratuity portion of a sale, and from making up that difference elsewhere on the transaction; it never proposed to change what a merchant may surcharge. Some bill trackers and guides still describe it as a Vermont surcharge law set to take effect July 1, 2026. That date was only the bill's own proposed effective date. The bill did not pass, and nothing about Vermont's surcharge rules changed.
Your Dealership Owes Nothing Under Either One
Vermont's one card-payment law regulates the card companies, not your store, and a dealer has zero obligations under it. The 2026 bill never passed either. Disclosure is still a network requirement, and the program already handles it: notice at the door, notice at the terminal, and a clean line item on every receipt. We track the state, not your front desk.
What This Means at the Counter
One rulebook, and it did not come from Montpelier.
A Vermont dealership follows the same math as everywhere else in the program: the 3 percent credit card surcharge fits inside Visa's cap without any state rule adding to it. What actually governs comes from the card networks: notice posted where a customer walks in, notice posted again at the payment terminal, and the surcharge listed as its own line on the receipt. Debit stays off the table entirely, without exception.
The state's one card law binds the networks rather than your store, so it hands you nothing to comply with, and the bill that made noise in the 2026 session never passed. Neither one touches what you charge.
One tax wrinkle worth knowing: the Vermont Department of Taxes has said (September 2024, restated May 2026) that when a sale is taxable, a credit card surcharge added to it is part of the taxable amount. How that applies to your ROs is a question for your accountant. DealerPayments does not handle or advise on sales tax.
Payments post straight to the repair order in CDK Drive, so the surcharge line shows up where your advisors already work. See the full mechanics on the surcharge program page, or walk through exactly what happens at the terminal on the how it works page.
Straight Answers on Vermont Rules
Yes. No statute in Vermont's consumer protection code bans it, caps it, or says anything about it at all, and no other Vermont law fills that gap. With the state layer empty, card network rules do the governing, the same as in every other state where surcharging is legal.
No, not from the state and not from the federal government either. Some guides publish a 4 percent legal maximum for Vermont and pin it on state or federal law; neither one exists. The real ceilings are the card network rules: Visa at 3 percent, Mastercard at 4 percent.
No. A bill called S.316 was introduced in January 2026 and would have limited what card networks charge on the tax and tip portion of a sale, but it never passed and died when the legislature adjourned in May 2026. Some trackers list July 1, 2026 as its effective date; that was only the date proposed in the bill, not something that ever took effect.
No. Debit, prepaid, and gift cards can never carry a surcharge, in Vermont or anywhere else. It's a card network rule, and even Vermont's own card-payment statute, 9 V.S.A. 2480p, never mentions debit at all.
The Vermont Department of Taxes has said that when a sale is taxable, a surcharge added to it counts as part of the taxable amount. Confirm how that lands on your ROs with your accountant; DealerPayments does not handle or advise on sales tax. For program and pricing questions beyond state law, see the FAQ page.
Straight Answers on Vermont
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