Just looking at that last post and I see it comes across as being quite abrupt and possibly snide. Such was not the intention. I hope no offense was taken Beastal.
I had a boss back when I worked in construction who’d always hit the bank early on a Saturday morning and get a couple of hundred dollar bills and then head to McDonald’s for breakfast. The reason he did it was because if the store couldn’t break his $100 they’d give him his breakfast for free. It only happened a couple of times where they couldn’t do it and had to give him his breakfast that I know of, but it was enough for him to keep trying.
OK, so the consensus is that private businesses, such as cabbies and McDonald’s can refuse large currency. My question is. can the government (i.e. the IRS) refuse them? Or more to the point, can I pay what I owe to Uncle Sam in pennies? They’re his currency after all? Or does the law specifically say that I have to write a check?
And if that’s true, how so, as the law neither, AFAIK, requires you to have a checking account nor even requires you to be able to read and write?
Yes, this is all hypothetical, as it would be a major pain in the ass to gather enough pennies. Still there was one year where I did actually owe one dollar to the State of California. Why couldn’t I have slipped a George in the envelope instead of having to write out a check for $1.00?
And could I get a little cheese with my whine? 
I used to ba a manager at Domino’s, which states that driver’s do not leave the store with over $20. I had several instances where I had to tell a driver to accept a customer’s $50 bill on orders over $30, and one case to accept a $100 bill on a $90 order. All of these drivers took the policy to mean they couldn’t accept anything over a $20.:rolleyes:
I’m pretty sure Cecil has addressed this in the past. If I remember correctly, no one, even the government, is required to accept pennies as payment for large sums.
That doesn’t mean you must write a check. If you have to mail payment, a money order is just fine (and you can get U.S. Postal money orders at the Post Office). If the situation allows payment in person, cash is fine. However, putting cash in the mail is taking a big risk. If the cash doesn’t get there, or is not acknowledged as having got there, you have no recourse whatsoever.
Hell, the state of Alabama won’t take a personal check: it’s gotta be a money order.
In most countries, you can refuse to accept coins over a certain total. They are not legal tender in large amounts, and you can not be forced to accept them.
So, in a case in England, a man making a protest about high tax came to the tax office with a wheel barrow full of pennies to pay his tax. They refused to accept it, as they were legally entitled to do, and he had to wheel the coins home again with a very red face. One failed protest.
None at all.
: sniff :
i used to work at a gas/service station. and no, we did not have to accept a large denomination. if we had a decent amount of change in the till, then generally we tried to do it so we wouldn’t piss off a customer.
but shifts only start with a $200 bank. add to this that many people go to a gas station specifically to try to get change (by buying a candy bar or a juice), and it gets frustrating.
several times a week (every week), a jerk would walk in who says, “do you have change for $100?” you say, “i’m sorry sir, but we just started shift, i can’t break it for you.” then they get pissed at you. there’s a bank across the street; * we are not a bank *.
the worst is someone coming in with a $20 and asking if we have two $10s. fine, it’s a polite question. we only have 4 of those bills, though, so i tell him that i can’t. i also can’t break it into fives (the till almost always degenerates into a bunch of 20s and many 1s). so the guy takes a 25-cent pack of gum and smacks it on the counter with his $20, a smug look on his face.
at this point, i have complete permission from my boss to say something like, “sir, i’ve already told you that i canNOT break that $20 for you. i will pay for that gum if you really want it, because i’m not lying when i say * i don’t have the change *. there’s a bank two feet away, and you can get change there.”
if it’s obvious that they bought gas and only had a $100 bill, then generally i make a concession. but if they try to give me that bill, and i can clearly see bunches of $20s, i’ll say i can’t accept it.
About a year ago, I got gas at a stand-alone gas station. I bought some drinks for the little 'uns and a couple of packs of chips. Total bill was somewhere around $27. The only bill I had was a hundred. I handed it over.
“Can’t take that.”
I stopped, confused. “What?”
“Can’t take that. Store policy. Can’t change large bills.”
I can understand that the store doesn’t want large denominations lying around. However, the shift change is just occurring; in fact, the two clerks were talking as I walked up, and one was removing her cash tray. She had it sitting on the counter behind her. I pointed to it.
“There’s enough money in there to change the bill, and it’s the only one I have,” I said. I showed him my empty wallet as proof. The girl, perhaps realizing their debating position will be stronger if there’s not obviously money sitting around, quickly opens the safe and shoves her cash tray in.
“Nope. Got a credit card?”
Well, yes, I did have a card, but I didn’t want to use it to pay for this. In the end, though, I acquiesced. Later, I cancelled the oil-company card, and explained to the service rep exactly why they were losing me as a customer. I haven’t been back there since, even though that’s a convenient gas station for me to frequent.