Florida Statute 501.0117

Also called Fla. Stat. 501.0117, Florida surcharge ban

Florida's credit card surcharge ban, still printed in the statutes but held unconstitutional by the Eleventh Circuit in 2015 and not enforced.

What it is

Section 501.0117 of the Florida Statutes provides that a seller or lessor in a sales or lease transaction may not impose a surcharge on the buyer or lessee for electing to use a credit card. A violation is designated a second-degree misdemeanor under sections 775.082 and 775.083. The statute contains carve-outs for charges under approved state or federal tariffs, for convenience fees on student tuition at eligible institutions capped at the institution's actual card cost, and for discounts offered to all customers for paying by cash, check or other non-credit-card means. The statute remains on the books. It appears in the current Florida Statutes. That is a fact merchants and agents should state accurately. It is also unenforceable as applied to ordinary surcharging. In Dana's Railroad Supply v. Attorney General, Florida, 807 F.3d 1235, decided November 4, 2015, the Eleventh Circuit held the ban unconstitutional under the First Amendment, reasoning that the distinction Florida drew between a surcharge and a cash discount regulates speech rather than conduct, because it is the same economic transaction described two ways. The Florida Attorney General's own consumer guidance now states that although Florida has a law prohibiting surcharges, that law was held unconstitutional by federal courts, and that merchants may add surcharges provided they are disclosed before purchase, while warning that undisclosed fees may constitute an unfair or deceptive trade practice prohibited by Florida law.

Why it matters to your business

For a Florida merchant, the practical takeaway is that surcharging is available and that disclosure is the thing Florida actually enforces. An undisclosed or poorly disclosed fee is a consumer protection exposure under Florida law even though the surcharge ban itself is not enforced. Build any program to the network standard, which is stricter than Florida's, and you are covered on both. That means the 30-day acquirer notice, the lesser-of cap, debit excluded at the card level, and identical disclosure at the entrance, at the point of sale, and on the receipt. This is education, not legal advice. This area involves a criminal statute that remains on the books and a constitutional holding, and no merchant should launch a surcharge program in Florida without a Florida attorney reviewing it.

Where it gets contested

The situation is genuinely unusual: a criminal statute that remains in the code, that the state's own chief legal officer publicly describes as held unconstitutional, and that merchants therefore proceed against. That is not a stable arrangement, and it means the correct description of Florida surcharging is conditional rather than absolute. The practical consequence is a vocabulary problem in the sales channel. Agents say surcharging is legal in Florida, which overstates it, or they say Florida bans surcharging, which is stale by a decade. The accurate statement is that the statutory ban was held unconstitutional and is not enforced, so surcharging proceeds subject to network rules and disclosure obligations. What is not resolved is the statute's future. It has not been repealed. A differently framed statute, or a different factual posture, could produce different litigation. Nothing in Dana's Railroad Supply guarantees that every conceivable pricing practice in Florida is protected, and the case addressed the surcharge and cash discount labeling distinction specifically.

How to check it yourself

Read the statute text yourself on the Florida Legislature website, then read the Florida Attorney General's consumer page on credit card surcharges. Those two documents together are the honest picture, and you can hand them to anyone who tells you otherwise.

Receipts

Claims above that are checkable, with where to check them. Published so you do not have to take anyone's word for it.

Text of Fla. Stat. 501.0117 prohibiting credit card surcharges, its criminal penalty designation and its carve-outs
leg.state.fl.us ↗
The statute as published in the 2025 Florida Statutes
flsenate.gov ↗
The Eleventh Circuit held the ban unconstitutional in Dana's Railroad Supply
law.justia.com ↗
The Florida Attorney General states the surcharge law was held unconstitutional, that merchants may surcharge if disclosed before purchase, and that undisclosed fees may violate Florida law
myfloridalegal.com ↗