Massachusetts junk fee rules for restaurant service charges and surcharges

Massachusetts rules on junk fees became enforceable on September 2, 2025, and they change how a restaurant can show its prices. The core idea is simple: customers should see the total price, including mandatory charges, before they commit. This guide, checked in October 2026, summarizes what the Attorney General's materials say about restaurants. It is general information and not legal advice. Read 940 CMR 38.00 and the Attorney General's restaurant guidance before you change your menu or receipts.

What do the rules require?

The regulations, at 940 CMR 38.00, require businesses that operate, advertise or sell in Massachusetts to disclose the total price, including mandatory non-government fees, and to show it before a consumer provides personal or billing information. Violations are treated as unfair or deceptive practices under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, Chapter 93A. Consumers can complain to the Attorney General. The rules cover out-of-state businesses that sell to Massachusetts customers, which matters for online ordering.

How do they apply to a service charge?

The Attorney General's restaurant guidance, as summarized by a law firm, says a mandatory service fee must be shown up front and not added at the end of the meal. A party-size service charge, for example for a table of six or more, is allowed under certain conditions: it must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed when pricing information is given, and it must be handled as the Tips Act requires. Check 940 CMR 38.00 and the Attorney General's guidance on who may share it. Put the charge on the menu, on your online booking page and on a sign at the door.

What about a kitchen or wellness fee?

A flat fee that is added to every check, sometimes called a kitchen appreciation fee or a wellness fee, is the kind of charge the rules target. The Attorney General's guidance includes illustrative receipt examples, which the office says are for illustration only. If you want to cover kitchen wages, the safest approach is to build the cost into menu prices so that the price shown is the price paid.

How do credit card surcharges fit?

A surcharge for paying by card is a fee like any other, so ask whether your disclosure treats it as part of the price. If your restaurant adds one, it should be shown with the price and not sprung at the register. Card network rules and state law also limit surcharges, and you should check both with your payment provider and your lawyer before you add one. A cash discount posted clearly on the menu is generally a simpler alternative, but ask your payment provider.

What about online ordering and third-party delivery?

The Attorney General's guidance says delivery platforms may advertise restaurant menu prices but must clearly display the maximum mandatory delivery fee. If your restaurant takes its own online orders, show any delivery fee, service fee or minimum before the customer enters card details. Keep the order page consistent with the menu in your dining room.

How do you make your menus and receipts compliant?

Walk through the customer journey. Look at your website, your booking page, your menu, your online ordering page and your receipt. At each point, ask whether a customer could learn the total mandatory price. Update templates, print new menus, and brief staff to explain any fee. Keep screenshots and dated copies in case of a complaint.

What are the risks of getting it wrong?

Complaints can lead to a demand letter from the Attorney General, penalties and refunds to customers under Chapter 93A, and bad reviews. A small restaurant can resolve most issues by correcting disclosures, but you should not ignore a letter. Talk to a lawyer if you receive one.

A short checklist for owners

First, list every charge your restaurant adds beyond the menu price: service charges, large-party gratuities, delivery fees, card surcharges and any flat fee. Second, for each one, find where a customer first sees it. If the answer is the check, change it. Third, decide whether to fold the charge into menu prices. Many restaurants find that a higher menu price and no fees is clearer and wins goodwill. Fourth, update your website, menus, booking page and online ordering page, and make sure third-party listings match. Fifth, train staff to explain any charge in one sentence. Sixth, keep a dated record of each change.

How does this affect tip culture?

A service charge that replaces tips is allowed in some forms, but diners may be confused about whether to tip on top. State it clearly on the menu, for example whether the charge replaces the tip, and whether staff receive all of it. The state's Tips Act controls how a service charge is distributed, and a charge that goes to the house instead of staff must be called something else and disclosed as a house fee. Get advice from a lawyer who knows both the Tips Act and the new fee rules, because the two interact.

Because the rules are new and enforcement guidance is still developing, keep an eye on the Attorney General's business guidance page for updates, and join a local restaurant association, which often shares plain-language summaries and sample wording for menus and receipts.

More guides for your business:

• Massachusetts happy hour ban: what bars and restaurants can offer instead
• Massachusetts wage, service rate and sick time for restaurants (2026)
• Massachusetts restaurant health inspections and the food protection manager

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