In forceContentIn force 17 Jan 2025Verified 2 Aug 2026

CAN-SPAM is $53,088 per email, and that did not rise in 2026

Q: What is the CAN-SPAM fine per email?

CAN-SPAM is an opt-out regime, not opt-in: you may email without prior consent, but every message needs accurate headers, a non-deceptive subject line, a valid physical postal address, a working opt-out, and the opt-out honoured within 10 business days. Each non-compliant email carries a civil penalty of up to $53,088. That figure took effect on 17 January 2025 and still stands, because the FTC's usual January inflation adjustment was cancelled for 2026.

What is the CAN-SPAM fine per email?

United States

How email works

In one sentence

US does not require — it requires honest subjects, a physical address, and a working within ten business days.

Emailrules interpretation

Unlike much of Europe, US federal law lets you email commercial messages without prior if you meet the rules: no deceptive From/subject, a real postal address, clear commercial nature when required, and honour within ten business days. Civil penalties are quoted per email (the inflation-adjusted figure changes), which is why volume matters.

Why it matters. EU playbooks over-block US lists; US playbooks under-protect EU lists. Know which law you are actually under.

Dotted words open definitions. See how email actually works.

What to do

Your move — not a lecture

Part platform, part you

The platform covers the mechanical bit. The judgement is still yours.

Your puts the postal address and link in the footer template, processes opt-outs automatically, and does it well within ten business days. The mechanical compliance is genuinely handled.

Your part: The subject line, and anything sent outside the . A sales rep mail-merging from a laptop is commercial email too, and it is the usual source of exposure.

What to do first

Open your last campaign and check the footer address against where the company actually is now. Companies move; footers do not.

You can skip this if: You never email anyone in the United States.

Who this applies to

Anyone sending commercial email to US recipients, wherever you are based. There is no small-sender exemption and no volume threshold.

Checklist

01Check the postal address in your footer is real and current. An old office address is a live violation on every send.
02Keep the subject line honest about what is inside. Deception is the limb regulators actually pursue.
03Audit anything that emails prospects outside the , especially sales sequencing tools.
04Remember you stay liable for what an agency sends on your behalf. Hiring someone does not move the obligation.

That’s enough to act. The exact wording, the enforcement record and every primary source sit under Proof & sources, for counsel, bosses, or AI tools that need a citation. Not legal advice.

Proof

Exact position, enforcement, sources

For records and people who will check you. Skip if Monday’s move is already clear.

Source fact

is an regime, not : you may email without prior , but every message needs accurate , a non-deceptive subject line, a valid physical postal address, a working opt-out, and the opt-out honoured within 10 business days. Each non-compliant email carries a civil penalty of up to $53,088. That figure took effect on 17 January 2025 and still stands, because the FTC's usual January inflation adjustment was cancelled for 2026.

What happens if you do not

Real but infrequent against ordinary marketers, and historically aimed at deceptive senders rather than sloppy footers. The important 2026 detail: the FTC adjusts these penalties every January, but the Office of Management and Budget cancelled the 2026 adjustment because the government shutdown from 1 October to 12 November 2025 stopped the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculating October 2025 CPI-U. So the 2025 figure carries through 2026 unchanged. Anyone quoting a higher 2026 number is guessing.

Sources

Federal Register, No Adjustment to Civil Monetary Penalty Amounts (2026 adjustment cancelled)
Published 7 Jul 2026Read primary source
Federal Register, Adjustments to Civil Penalty Amounts (the $53,088 figure)
Published 17 Jan 2025Read primary source
FTC, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business
No publisher dateRead primary source

History of this page

2 Aug 2026Re-verified against primary sources (bulk/auth/consent core).
1 Aug 2026Added. The baseline US rule was missing entirely, and the 2026 penalty figure is widely misreported because the annual adjustment was cancelled.

Take this with you

GET https://emailrules.today/rules/can-spam-penalty-per-email?format=json

Same URL, same answer, every field including the ones behind the Proof tab. An Accept: application/json header on the plain URL does the same thing. All the endpoints.