An Act amending Title 72 (Taxation and Fiscal Affairs) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for prohibition on certain payment card network fee practices; and imposing penalties.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Heather Boyd and 26 co-sponsors

Pennsylvania HB 2090 would prohibit merchants from charging credit card network fees related to the sales and use tax portion of transactions and impose penalties for violations.

Laid on the table

1) Main purpose and intent

HB 2090 proposes to amend Title 72 (Taxation and Fiscal Affairs) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to prohibit certain payment card network fee practices and to impose penalties for violations.

The bill appears to focus specifically on prohibiting credit card fees related to the sales and use tax portion of a transaction, as indicated by sponsor memos and public summaries.

2) Key provisions and changes

Prohibition on certain payment card network fee practices:

The bill would restrict or bar credit card surcharges or fees applied by merchants that are charged by payment card networks (e.g., Visa, Mastercard) in the context of sales and use tax calculations or collection.
While the exact statutory language is not provided here, the intent is to prevent merchants from imposing or passing along specific card network fees related to tax portions of transactions.

Penalties:

The bill would impose penalties for violations of the prohibition. The precise penalty amounts, enforcement mechanisms, and applicable entities (merchants, payment processors, or networks) are not detailed in the provided text, but the act title indicates enforcement provisions.

3) Who or what would be affected

Merchants and businesses that collect sales and use tax in Pennsylvania and that accept payment by credit/debit/charge cards.

Payment card networks and processors that facilitate card payments, if involved in any prohibited fee practices.

Consumers could be indirectly affected by the absence of card-network-related fees passed through at the point of sale.

4) Procedural and timeline aspects

Bill status:

Referred to the House Finance Committee on January 30, 2026.
Reported as committed and first considered on February 4, 2026.
Laid on the table on February 4, 2026 (pending further action).

Committee action:

Finance Committee vote on February 4, 2026: 14 yeas, 12 nays.
This indicates a divided committee stance, with a majority in favor of moving the bill as committed.

Sponsors and co-sponsors:

Prime sponsor: Representative Pat Gallagher (D, 173rd).
A broad coalition of Democratic sponsors from diverse districts, including several co-sponsors (e.g., Representatives Samuelson, Scott, Hohenstein, Shusterman, Waxman, Webster, Mayes, Giral, Probst, Hill-Evans, Sanchez, Inglis, Dougherty, Neilson, Markosek, Pielli, McAndrew, Harkins, D. Williams, Solomon, Boyd, Otten, Curry, Parker, Tomlinson, etc.).

5) Practical considerations

If enacted, Pennsylvania businesses would need to adjust pricing practices to ensure no prohibited card network fee schemes are applied to the sales and use tax portion of transactions.

Enforcement details (e.g., penalties, fines, compliance periods, private right of action vs. state enforcement) are not specified in the provided materials and would be clarified in the enacted statute or accompanying fiscal notes.

The bill’s fate depends on legislative proceedings beyond February 2026; it has advanced from Finance—Committee level but was laid on the table, indicating it may require further action to become law.

If you would like, I can expand this by comparing to existing Pennsylvania statutes on surcharges, card networks, or sales tax practices, or draft a one-page briefing for stakeholders (merchants, tax professionals, and consumer advocates) highlighting compliance steps and potential costs.

Bill