• just_another_person@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    102
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    My gut says that not taxing “tips” is only going to embolden companies looking to move line item payouts, and force more people to work for minimum wage.

    You’ll see a massive wave of previously non-tip jobs turn into tipped jobs, which only benefits the employer.

  • Lauchs@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    3 months ago

    I’ll take a bad policy to win a swing state and make sure we don’t lose that Senate seat.

  • mohammed_alibi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 months ago

    More exception rules means more loop holes. Now I can get my employer to pay me in tips instead of a regular salary.

    • Wrench@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 months ago

      That would be called a bonus. Tips are from customers for services rendered.

      • mohammed_alibi@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        3 months ago

        Define customer and define services rendered. I rendered 40 hours of services to my customer (aka my employer).

      • William@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        3 months ago

        Many, many restaurants now have mandatory tips right on the bill. They’ve already destroyed the concept, and this will just make it worse.

  • Hikermick@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    34
    ·
    3 months ago

    The pandemic showed us we need to revamp our unemployment safety net and this includes doing away with tipping.

  • expatriado@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    3 months ago

    this may make harder for tipped workers to access credit, since they can claim they made way more tips than they actually did since is tax free, forcing banks to exclude tips as proof of income for mortgage applications and such

    • Good_morning@lemmynsfw.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      3 months ago

      Probably one of the most overlooked issues, but it’s not like we’re going to be buying houses in the future, we’ll just rent them from corporations

  • recapitated@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    3 months ago

    If the hand we’re playing is such that we cannot feasibly raise the service minimum wage and abolish tipping, but we can exempt tips from taxation, I don’t see any reason not to take that action.

    But it seems theatrical. How much revenue does US actually take in from this type of income? I bet it doesn’t even make an impact. May as well use it as a political tool with the side effect of helping some workers too.

    Until we can figure out a better way to have society. I just don’t see the downside.

    • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 months ago

      Because the rich are obviously going to use this as a loophole to give money to each other tax free, now that NFTs and Bitcoin have kinda tanked. They need a new way to legally pay for illicit goods, and tips are pretty good for that. Do these tips even need to be reported if they aren’t taxed anyway? Just like gifts under $10k don’t need to be reported.

    • elrik@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      3 months ago

      The article explains that one obvious downside is it’ll put downward pressure on base wages for these employees, with the justification that their take home pay will remain the same. And I expect that’s exactly what would happen.

    • Don_alForno@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      Deutsch
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      3 months ago

      I don’t see any reason not to take that Action.

      The reason is that the government is now subsidizing poverty wages and encouraging those business models instead of letting them crash and burn for a lack of willing wage slaves like they should.

  • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    43
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 months ago

    Here’s my vision:

    1. Raise minimum wage. We want food and housing. This shit shouldn’t be impossible to get
    2. Implement universal basic income. Again. WE WANT FOOD AND HOUSING, JESUS CHRIST
    3. Implement a wealth tax. Great hordes of wealth being untaxed while income is just reinforces generational poverty
    4. Eliminate income tax now that wealth tax is covering everything. It disproportionately punishes workers versus the ultra-wealthy who don’t get paid in money. Meanwhile, who’s getting taxed is just not using the money they got taxed to pay for… And say it with me, kids, food and housing
    • bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 months ago

      The first three are great, the fourth idea is insane. Why shouldn’t people pay into their government? If you’re poor, like the first $25k, fine let that be tax free, but why not keep the money in the government coffers and provide single payer healthcare, free college tuition, student debt forgiveness, municipal broadband? Our taxes are not high compared to other western nations.

      • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        3 months ago

        I’m not saying don’t tax me. I’m saying don’t tax me based on income. Tax me based on accumulated worth. Its possible to be highly paid but to have started in such a back foot that you’re still in the hole. Meanwhile folks like that are paying more into society than anyone else through sales tax because they need to do things like furnish homes they bought

        • bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          3 months ago

          But if you tax based on wealth, doesn’t that make home ownership less possible? Property taxes aren’t going away, but now a wealth tax is going to hit property owners? Sales tax is extremely regressive. Income tax is one of the few ways to do progressive taxing.

          • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            3 months ago

            It means you’ll start paying a little more tax as value acculates in your property holding. The goal is, yes, long term property holders will pay more tax the longer they hold the land. More importantly, it’ll hit landlords super hard and first time home buyers barely even a little. The goal is to tax people based on their ability to pay, and to avoid creating permanent classes where all the value created by the workers goes up the chain to the wealthy.

            • bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              3 months ago

              All you would end up doing is creating a new business for accountants to devalue someone’s holdings. I assume that you are saying that the wealth will be the value of the asset less any loan against the property, because that’s the only way a first-time home buyer would be taxed nearly nothing. Why wouldn’t the wealthy simply take loans against their assets thereby devaluing them for the purposes of a wealth calculation? The same way that they borrow against their stock portfolio.

      • Wes4Humanity@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        3 months ago

        All wealth is created by workers… Any wealth used for the good of all society is coming from the workers same as all profit does. No need to add the middleman… Just charge it all to the corporations… First our work pays for society, only what’s left over after should be considered profit

    • Wes4Humanity@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      3 months ago

      Eliminate all taxes on individuals, charge the whole bill for a functioning society to the corporations (preferably at the same ratio as the corporations make profit, ie if a company makes 10% of all the profit that quarter they pay 10% of the bill)… We the people democratically decide what all is included in a functioning society

            • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              4
              ·
              edit-2
              3 months ago

              Ah, well that’s where the tip lives. It’s the tip’s jar /s

              I once had a coworker labeling prepped food containers, and we only realized at the end that this was not the assignment for him. We had chikun, leming slices, tumaters, and it was kind of a mess. His native language was English, but not everyone’s was, and his phonetic interpretations were difficult for the rest of us to understand. Not his fault, but neat handwriting doesn’t automatically make you the best one to write

  • Pacattack57@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    15
    ·
    3 months ago

    Devils advocate here. How do you incentivize doing a good job as a waitstaff without increasing costs without tips? If your pay is x and no tips, what else is there other than do a good job or else I’ll fire you?

      • Pacattack57@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        8
        ·
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        A 10 cent raise? There are servers that make several hundred dollars a week due to tips and you want them to give that up for a yearly 10 cent raise? Good luck convincing anyone to give that up.

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      How do you incentivize doing a good job

      By paying them, same as any other job. Should every other job be 2.13 plus tips because your infernal client feels like obstreperous karens should decide if a person deserves food and shelter based on how thorough a job they do of kissing ass?

      • Pacattack57@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        9
        ·
        3 months ago

        You are being disingenuous by suggesting all service is equal. There is a difference between exceptional customer service and mediocre. Don’t you think servers should be able to be rewarded for going above and beyond?

        Obviously the business needs to pay a fair wage but tipping in the service industry allows exceptional service to be rewarded.

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          Don’t you think servers should be able to be rewarded for going above and beyond?

          Sure. Here. have a Jack Chick Tract. 2.13 is obscene and you know it.

          • Pacattack57@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            3
            ·
            3 months ago

            I never once said that it is ok to pay servers below minimum wage because they make it up in tips. Using that as your argument for why we shouldn’t tip is a straw man fallacy.

            If a place is offering below minimum wage to work for tips, who’s fault is it for working there? I understand that people are many times not in a position to negotiate pay, especially when it’s an industry standard but at some point workers have to stand up for themselves. There is a huge movement here in the US with millennials and gen x refusing to work for poor pay. That is the only way to change the industry.

            • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              3 months ago

              I never once said that it is ok to pay servers below minimum wage because they make it up in tips

              2.13 is the minimum wage for tipped workers.

              And now you’re blaming the exploited for their exploitation.

              Why even have a minimum wage when the people with no power at all can just choose not to be exploited and starve?

  • linuxgator@lemmynsfw.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    24
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    3 months ago

    I believe in no apostrophes in tips. Also tipping should be banned and thus not need to be taxed.

    • RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      3 months ago

      I think people should be paid a living wage, and I should still be able to tip. Because it’s fun.

  • foggy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    40
    ·
    3 months ago

    Yeah. Raise the fucking federal minimum wage. Mandate that it keep pace with inflation.

  • Tiefling IRL@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    While we’re at it, can we also require recommended tips be based on total food cost rather than post tax amount?

    I would love to do away with tips on their entirety, but in the meantime, I’d also appreciate getting that ~2% back

  • darkdemize@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    Not a tipped worker here: are tips currently calculated as part of SS earned income? How will exempting tips from taxes affect future benefits for these workers?

    • Khanzarate@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      3 months ago

      Tips are just added to what you made so yeah, it counts wherever an hourly wage counts.

      However the current system just gets people not to report tips, so realistically they’re paying a lot less into SS anyway. It’s basically just the government going “alright let’s make that official instead of tax fraud”