RestrictedLast verified: 2026-08-25

Is credit card surcharging legal in Colorado?

Usually yes, with conditions. Colorado allows a credit card surcharge but attaches rules you have to meet. Colorado repealed its surcharge ban and replaced it with a cap. Since 1 July 2022, C.R.S. § 5-2-212 lets a seller impose a processing surcharge of no more than 2% of the transaction, or no more than the merchant discount fee it actually pays, whichever route it chooses. The statute also prescribes signage and requires the surcharge to appear as its own line on the receipt. No surcharge may be imposed on cash, cheque, debit card or gift card payments.

The statute

Citation: Colo. Rev. Stat. § 5-2-212

“the seller, lessor, or service provider shall provide as a separate line item on the customer's receipt the surcharge amount imposed”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 5-2-212

How much you can charge

State cap: the lesser path of 2% of the total transaction or the merchant discount fee actually incurred. This is stricter than either card network, so 2% is the practical ceiling in Colorado.

Disclosure requirements

A merchant relying on the 2% option must post the statute's prescribed notice where customers can see it — for online sales, before the customer completes the transaction — and itemise the surcharge on the receipt.

Sources

Last verified: 2026-08-25. Confidence: verified against the sources above.

Not legal advice

This page is a research summary for merchants, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. Surcharge rules change, they interact with card-network rules and federal law, and they can turn on facts specific to your business. Consult licensed counsel in Colorado before you implement or change a surcharge.

Putting this into practice on Shopify

Rules like these only help if your checkout can actually enforce them, including on Shop Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Shopify surcharge guide See FeeLayer