In a 2013 case, Wells v. Holiday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that a car wash receipt with an expiration date does not violate the Minnesota Gift Card Act because a car wash receipt is not a «gift certificate.» The court held that «the wash code itself has no monetary value because the customer cannot exchange it for another Holiday product using the amount the customer paid for the car wash.» The court also found that the ability of a customer to receive a cash refund for their car wash does not confer a «monetary value» on the car wash certificate. Finally, the Court found that the levying of VAT on the wash showed that it was not a `gift card`, since `gift cards` do not charge VAT in advance. But collect the tax if the customer uses the card to buy something that is taxable. «Stored Value Card» means a record that demonstrates a promise by the issuer or seller of the record in exchange for monetary or other consideration that the owner of the record will receive exclusively or a combination of goods, services or cash of the value specified in the registry, which is pre-funded and whose value is reduced with each redemption. The term «store of value card» includes, but is not limited to, the following items: paper gift cards, records containing a microprocessor chip, magnetic stripe or other means of storing information, gift cards, electronic gift cards, discount cards, prepaid cards or certificates, loyalty cards and similar records or cards. «Gift Card» means a tangible device on which a value issued against payment is incorporated or encoded in an electronic or other format that promises to provide the holder with goods of equal value to the remaining balance of the device. The «Gift Card» does not include a prepaid credit card. In 2009, Congress passed the Credit Card Liability and Disclosure Act (CARD), which established consumer protection for gift cards based on numerous state laws. The law states that gift cards cannot expire within five years of the date of their activation and generally limits the inactivity fee for gift cards, except in certain circumstances, such as if no transaction has taken place for at least 12 months.
Federal law creates a lower limit for regulation, leaving room for state regulations on exchanging gift cards for cash and unclaimed property provisions. «General Purpose Prepaid Cards» means cards issued solely by a bank or other similarly regulated financial institutions or by a licensed money issuer and means plastic cards or other electronic payment devices that: (1) are redeemable and rewarded upon presentation to multiple unaffiliated merchants or service providers for goods or services or at automated banking machines (ABMs); and in a required prepaid amount, which can be upgraded or reloaded at the issuer`s option at the request of the holder. The term does not include debit cards linked to a deposit account or prepaid calling cards. H.B. 6811 Failure Joint Favorable Deadline 17.03.15 Relates to cash refunds for gift card balances; Allows a gift card holder to receive a cash refund of the gift card balance if the balance is less than ten dollars after a purchase with the card. L.B. 150 clarifies that the sale or issuance of a gift card or gift card containing an expiration date or any type of fee after the sale, including, but not limited to, service fees, inactivity fees, account maintenance fees, withdrawal fees, card replacement fees or activation or reactivation fees, is a prohibited method of unfair competition under the Unfair Commercial Practices and Consumer Protection Act 1976; as amended. After some research, Atkins said it was found that under the two-year mark under the IRS and standard accounting principles, unredeemed gift cards are no longer considered a liability for the companies that issued them. Tennessee H.B. 156 S.B. 923 Requires person-to-person sales of gift cards and requires non-renewal and suspension of eligibility to reissue an offender`s business tax license. Oregon H.B.
2543 Provides that unused gift cards become abandoned property. Provides that if the issuer of a Gift Card does not have an address for the holder of a Gift Card, the value of the Gift Card deemed abandoned will be subject to the custody of that state if the purchase, issuance or final transaction by the holder of the Gift Card took place in that state. Michigan H.B. 5590 Prohibits expiration within 10 years for gift cards and gift cards. H.B. 6691 Failure Joint Favorable Deadline 17.03.15 Requires that if a person uses a Gift Card to purchase goods or services, the person accepting the Gift Card as payment will provide the Purchaser with a cash refund equal to the remaining balance on the Gift Card after purchase. (3) In the case of a gift card or gift card, the owner is deemed to be a recipient of the gift card or gift card and the presumed abandoned amount is the price paid by the purchaser for the gift card or gift card, less the sum of any purchases or fees charged on the gift card or gift card. In the case of a credit, the amount assumed to be abandoned is the amount credited to the beneficiary of the credit.
Any gift card or e-gift card whose expiry date is not redeemed or inactive for more than three years after the sale of the gift card or e-gift card will be deemed abandoned. The amount displayed is 60% of the unredeemed portion of the face value of the gift card or eGift card. Entertainment festivals are experimenting with new ways for attendees to pay for admission and merchandise to increase sales, offer discounts to valued customers, improve operational efficiency and reduce theft. As festivals move away from cash, they increasingly use plastic cards or wristbands with stored value for entry to festival events and festival items. However, when using new payment methods, festival organizers need to be aware of government regulations when it comes to gift certificates or gift cards. 2. A gift obligation or stored value card sold on or after December 31, 2011 is not deemed abandoned if the gift obligation or prepaid card was sold by a single issuer that did not sell more than $250,000 of the face value of the gift commitments or stored value cards in the preceding calendar year. The sale of gift bonds and prepaid cards is considered a sale by a single issuer if the sales were made by companies that (a) operate under common control with another corporation or Crown corporation; or (b) as franchised outlets of a parent company. «Essentially, it`s the gifts that can be passed on, or the gifts that could continue to be accepted,» Atkins said.
Illinois H.B. 252 amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Marketing Practices Act. Stipulates that the holder of a gift card issued on or after January 1, 2012 and whose balance is less than $10 must have the option to receive this credit in cash. H.B. 4689 Sent to Governor 6/14/12 Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Marketing Practices Act. Provides that the term «gift certificate» includes a credit note issued by a store to a consumer who returns goods that allow him to receive other goods of similar value in exchange for the returned goods. The ed. 4971 amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Marketing Practices Act. Stipulates that the holder of a gift card issued on or after January 1, 2013 and whose balance is less than $10 must have the option to receive this credit in cash.