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merchants, consumers, your business and/or the pay- goes to the government and gratuities which go to em-
ments industry as a whole? ployees.
2. Is complying with the Illinois bill and similar legisla- When you dig deeper into this new law, as with any-
tion in other states feasible? If not, why not? If so, what thing there are significant downsides. Compliance will
will service providers need to do to help merchants be extremely difficult at the point of sale considering
comply? there are different tax rates for different products and
sales tax rates can vary from county to county. This
3. It appears lawmakers are well-intentioned in draft- will require merchants to upgrade their current point
ing legislation that attempts to ensure merchants aren't of sale devices or, in many cases, force businesses to
gouged by growing payment-acceptance costs. Could purchase new equipment which can be costly.
legislators have a more effective approach to legislation
that affects the payments industry? And how might The winners of this law being passed will be larger mer-
payment professionals work with them? chants who will save a tremendous amount of money

not paying interchange fees on sales tax and gratuities.
Our Aug. 12 issue contained a portion of their responses The losers will be the smaller merchants that will have
to these questions. This article concludes this series with to absorb high costs upfront to remain compliant with
additional views from our Advisory Board. We wish to ap- much less benefit from interchange savings.
preciate all who participated.
2. We have always been a very adaptable industry to
Justin Milmeister, CPP changes in the law with respect to payments. Should
Elite Merchant Solutions the law recently passed in Illinois spread to other states,
as four additional states are considering a similar law,
1. If you read only the highlights on this new bill that compliance will be quite difficult but certainly feasible.
takes effect July 2025 it appears to make sense. Why Point of sale providers will be constantly having to up-
should merchants pay interchange on revenue that date their systems as new laws pass in various states,
goes elsewhere such is the case with sales tax which which certainly will be cumbersome.

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