(April 5, 2018 at 8:31 am)Joods Wrote:(April 4, 2018 at 10:41 am)mlmooney89 Wrote: I know not a lot of people agree with me but it infuriates me that waitress/waiters hide their tips so they don't have to be taxed on them. I have to report every dollar I make so should they.
Being in the service industry, please allow me to explain some reasons why they may do that.
1. Federal wages for servers is a whopping $2.83 an hour and it's been that way for at least 20 years if not more. If it's dead in the restaurant, you are losing money. Work a 40 hour week and your tips only add up to maybe $300 for the week and then see that your actual paycheck is about $30 after taxes, if that, it can be very frustrating. That's not a livable wage and many who work in the service related industry barely make enough to get by.
2. Many customers now leave a tip on their credit card statements. All of those tips get taxed, despite what customers believe. Why? Because there is now a paper trail and the employer is required to report those tips.
3. Servers are only required to report a certain percentage of their tips. 10 percent is the minimum. If the bulk of my tips are placed on a credit card and all that is getting taxed, you're damn straight that I'm not reporting anything I get in cash. Especially of 80% of my tips are already being reported to the govt.
4. A lot of customers don't even tip the proper amount of 15 - 18 %. The server I just had this morning told me she's been at the restaurant for 21 years and all her paychecks are voided because her hours just barely cover her insurance and she pays taxes based on her sales. So if she had $650 in food sales, she's getting taxed on that plus any tips reported on a credit card, regardless of what her total rips plus hourly comes out to be. So there's lots of variables and reasons for why people don't claim all their tips. I wish people would consider that before getting mad or not tipping properly. I worked for three months at Smart Style and never got a cent of the commission I should have received simply because my service sales weren't high enough. I was busting ass with retail sales, but they don't give you commission on retail unless you meet your service sales goals. That's really hard to do when you are new to the industry. And it's completely frustrating when your paycheck is only for minimum wage and you have kids to feed and student loans to repay and you feel like you busted your ass.
Shit. Some people don't even bother to tip. I won't take those people again as clients. I have expenses to meet as well and I rely on my tips to help restock my supplies.
See the bit I bolded?
That's the only thing that needs to be fixed. Everything else then falls into place.
And, trust me, the employers will not go bankrupt and the customers will still pay the same (considering the present-day tip included in this fairer price)
If people want to discourage crappy service, simply don't return to where they get crappy service.
If they want to encourage it, return.
If it seems simple, it's because it is. And is basically what happens in many other places.
