California receipt law does four things at once: it limits what card information a business can print on your receipt, restricts what personal information a cashier can ask you for, sets content requirements when sales or use tax is collected, and gives you the right to demand a written receipt for money you pay. Violations carry civil penalties from $250 up to $2,500 per incident, and class actions in this area have driven total recoveries into the millions.
What Card Receipts 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 or manually imprinted slips are exempt, and the restriction does not cover internal documents like batch summary reports.
Federal law says the same thing nationwide. 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 any electronically printed receipt provided at the point of sale.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c FACTA has applied to all businesses since December 1, 2006.3Federal Trade Commission. Slip Showing? Federal Law Requires All Businesses to Truncate Credit Card Information on Receipts
California goes one step further than the federal rule. The state truncation requirement also applies to the merchant-retained copies printed at the time of the transaction, whether or not the cardholder signs them.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1747.09 (2025) FACTA only covers the customer’s copy.
What a Business Cannot Ask You For at Checkout
The rules about what appears on the receipt are separate from the rules about what a cashier can request. California’s Song-Beverly Credit Card Act, Civil Code 1747.08, prohibits a business from requiring your address, phone number, or ZIP code as a condition of completing a credit card purchase, unless the information is needed for a specific purpose such as shipping or fraud prevention.4California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1747.08 (2025)
In Pineda v. Williams-Sonoma Stores, Inc., the California Supreme Court held that a ZIP code is “personal identification information” under the statute. Requesting and recording a cardholder’s ZIP code at the register, even without any other identifying detail, violated the Credit Card Act.5Stanford Law School – Robert Crown Law Library. Pineda v. Williams-Sonoma – 51 Cal. 4th 524 That decision effectively ended the retail habit of collecting ZIP codes for marketing analytics at the point of sale.
Keep the two provisions straight. Section 1747.08 governs what a business can request from you. Section 1747.09 governs what appears on the printed receipt. Many of the class actions in this area come from businesses confusing the two.
Your Right to Demand a Written Receipt
Under California Civil Code 1499, anyone who delivers property or money in performance of an obligation has the right to require a written receipt from the person receiving it.6California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1499 (2025) The provision is broad. If you pay rent in cash, your landlord must give you a written receipt when you ask. The same applies to loan repayments, service fees, and other cash transactions where you need proof of payment.
California does not have a single blanket law forcing a receipt for every retail sale. The obligation depends on the type of transaction, the industry, and whether you ask for one. For credit and debit purchases, card network agreements and the truncation statutes above effectively guarantee some form of receipt. For cash sales, the obligation is driven by the customer’s request and by the seller’s tax compliance duties.
Required Content When Tax Is Collected
When a retailer collects use tax, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration requires the receipt to include specific information. The receipt does not have to follow a set format, but it 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
If a discount, coupon, or refund applies, the receipt should reflect the adjusted price. Businesses that collect sales tax should also list the tax rate and amount separately from the item price.
Industry Rules Consumers Ask About Most
Auto Repair Shops
An auto repair dealer in California must provide a written estimate before starting work. The estimate has to list the estimated price for parts and labor separately, and each part must be identified as new, used, rebuilt, or reconditioned. For auto body and collision work, the parts-and-labor breakdown is more granular, and any new crash part must 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 go above the authorized estimate without your approval.
Home Improvement Contracts
Any home improvement contract with an aggregate price over $500 must be in writing. It has to include the contractor’s name, business address, and license number, along with a description of the project and the significant materials to be used. It must also state the contract price, any finance charges, and the payment schedule. California caps the down payment at $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less.9State of California. What is a Contract? The contractor has to give you a signed copy before any work begins, and the contract must include a notice of your right to cancel.
Emailed Receipts and Privacy
When a business collects your email address to send an electronic receipt, that address is personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act. The CCPA requires businesses to disclose what personal information they collect, why they collect it, and the categories of third parties with whom they share it.10California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA). Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) A business that gathers email addresses at checkout for e-receipts and then uses them for marketing needs a lawful basis for the marketing use and must honor opt-out requests.
The California Privacy Rights Act builds on the CCPA, adding a right to correct inaccurate personal information and a right to limit the use of sensitive data. A business that stores electronic receipt data has to maintain reasonable security. A breach involving receipt-linked personal information can trigger both CCPA/CPRA enforcement and private lawsuits.
Penalties for Violations
Requesting 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 subsequent violation.11Justia. California Civil Code Title 1.3 – Credit Cards The penalty can be pursued by the customer, the Attorney General, or a district or city attorney. A business can defeat the penalty by proving the violation was unintentional and resulted from a bona fide error despite reasonable procedures. Even so, this section has driven substantial class action litigation against retailers caught collecting ZIP codes or other personal data at the register.
Printing Prohibited Card Data
A business that willfully fails to truncate card numbers on receipts faces federal 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, without proving any actual harm.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681n – Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance “Willful” covers intentional violations and reckless disregard of the law’s requirements. The FTC can also bring enforcement actions, with civil penalties of 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 Sales Records
The CDTFA treats a failure to maintain 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 If an audit turns up discrepancies between reported sales and actual receipts, the business owes back taxes plus interest, and a seller’s permit can be revoked when the CDTFA finds the holder is no longer actively engaged in business as a seller.15California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax Law – Section 6072
When a Receipt Is Not Required
Not every transaction triggers a receipt obligation. Occasional sellers, such as an individual holding 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 receipt requirements. California’s administrative practice separates professional sellers, whose sales are taxable, from amateur or occasional sellers, whose sales are not.
Digital records are a valid substitute for paper receipts in most situations. Under California’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, a record cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form. Subscription services routinely provide billing statements or emailed receipts rather than paper slips, and those digital records carry the same legal weight.