[thechat] 18% tip not legally required

chris hardy lists at semioticpixels.com
Tue Dec 28 17:59:10 CST 2004


A few years ago, tax law changed to require waiters/waitresses to report
tips as untaxed income. There was a convoluted reporting process requiring
them to keep a daily diary of tips. 

The alternative to the daily diary was that employers could allocate a
percentage of all sales as tip income. What happened to a number of folks I
knew was that their employer allocated a higher percentage as unearned tip
income than what they actually received. 

My understanding is that's still a problem, but not enough of one for people
to fight it. People are usually well tipped in good restaurants and they
usually try to get a different job if they're working in a restaurant that
is bad enough to be undertipped.

I think the tax law may have been clarified since then and employees can opt
to keep a daily diary instead of accepting the employers allocation. Hard to
say - I'm not an accountant and I've never waited tables. 

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p531/ar02.html

-chris

> -----Original Message-----
> From: thechat-bounces at lists.evolt.org 
> [mailto:thechat-bounces at lists.evolt.org] On Behalf Of Madhu Menon
> Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 3:31 PM
> To: The evolt.org social mailing list 
> Subject: RE: [thechat] 18% tip not legally required
> 
> 
> At 04:53 29/12/2004, chris hardy wrote:
> >hmm, well you know what sucks is that in the U.S. waiters/waitresses 
> >are taxed for tips whether they get them or not.
> 
> Could you please explain that?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Madhu
> 
> <<<   *   >>>
> Madhu Menon
> Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine
> Indiranagar, Bangalore
> http://www.shiokfood.com
> 
> Chef's Notes: http://www.shiokfood.com/notes/
> 
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