Bye Bye tips?

[lupi]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323893004579055224175110910.html


An updated tax rule is causing restaurants to rethink the practice of adding automatic tips to the tabs of large parties.

Starting in January, the Internal Revenue Service will begin classifying those automatic gratuities as service charges—which it treats as regular wages, subject to payroll tax withholding—instead of tips, which restaurants leave up to the employees to report as income.

The change would mean more paperwork and added costs for the restaurants—and a potential financial hit for waiters and waitresses who live on their tips but don't always report them fully.

 

[Lyfer]

Does that mean my meal will include unwanted special sauce?

 

[Newbian]

Well it always was stupid for people to hope the waiters report all of them and it always was a big loophole.

 

[Via]

Yeah, those waiters living high on the hog. That gravy train has got to stop.

 

[lxskllr]

I always leave cash as a tip, even if paying by card. If I don't have enough cash for a tip, I don't eat out, or I get fast food somewhere.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Yeah....I try to leave a cash tip...when possible.

I hate those automatic surcharges, but think it should be suggested to tip 20% if a server is being pulled from other tables to serve a party. In some restaurants, they'll take a server out of a section and only give them a party that comes in. That can make or break them for the night if they sit there for hours and don't run up a bill drinking.

 

[zerocool84]

Yeah....I try to leave a cash tip...when possible.

I hate those automatic surcharges, but think it should be suggested to tip 20% if a server is being pulled from other tables to serve a party. In some restaurants, they'll take a server out of a section and only give them a party that comes in. That can make or break them for the night if they sit there for hours and don't run up a bill drinking.

Boohoo, they get basically free money from us by doing their basic job and get it tax free.

 

[T9D]

God damn it can we go a day without a tipping battle here

 

[who?]

Yeah the minimum wage for tipped jobs is $2.63 an hour. They're really living high on the hog on that.

 

[Crow550]

Damn Reservoir Dogs. Anytime I hear about tipping http://youtu.be/V4sbYy0WdGQ

Or hear the song Stuck In The Middle With You. The film pops in my head.

 

[dmcowen674]

God damn it can we go a day without a tipping battle here

This site is the perfect example of how polarized the Country has become between the Haves and Have Nots.

The Haves have their asses so high in the clouds it has to hurt at some point from lack of oxygen.

 

[waggy]

This site is the perfect example of how polarized the Country has become between the Haves and Have Nots.

The Haves have their asses so high in the clouds it has to hurt at some point from lack of oxygen.

pft for many its not about "the haves and have nots" . If you do the job well with prompt service you get a good tip. you fuck around and it takes 20 minutes to get a refill or or bullshit you don't get a good tip.

I never liked automatic tipping. a few times i would have have tipped more then they charged. I refuse to leave more

 

[JEDI]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323893004579055224175110910.html


An updated tax rule is causing restaurants to rethink the practice of adding automatic tips to the tabs of large parties.

Starting in January, the Internal Revenue Service will begin classifying those automatic gratuities as service charges—which it treats as regular wages, subject to payroll tax withholding—instead of tips, which restaurants leave up to the employees to report as income.

The change would mean more paperwork and added costs for the restaurants—and a potential financial hit for waiters and waitresses who live on their tips but don't always report them fully.

:thumbsup:

 

[Leymenaide]

This site is the perfect example of how polarized the Country has become between the Haves and Have Nots.

The Haves have their asses so high in the clouds it has to hurt at some point from lack of oxygen.

pft for many its not about "the haves and have nots" . If you do the job well with prompt service you get a good tip. you fuck around and it takes 20 minutes to get a refill or or bullshit you don't get a good tip.

I never liked automatic tipping. a few times i would have have tipped more then they charged. I refuse to leave more

Both of you make good points.
I spent a lot of the Queens money on tips over the years.
Always a minimum of 25%. If I did not get 25% worth then the problem was mine for not letting the manager know I was having a problem. I almost always tipped above 25 if the meal was real important and the waitperson did their job and stayed invisible.

 

[yuchai]

I never understood the concept of the automatic tip simply because you have a larger party. How did this practice become the norm?

 

[OutHouse]

Well it always was stupid for people to hope the waiters report all of them and it always was a big loophole.

for small diners not reporting tips is easy and they are normally small tips on average. However for more popuplar/bigger places like applebees TGIF... they know pretty close how much their staff makes in tips per night and it has to be recorded into the pay system. for example on a typical friday night 6 hour shift a waitress normally pulls in about 120 bucks in tips, if Sally only pulls out 30 bucks to her boss and does this often she is going to get fired. management is not stupid.

 

[OutHouse]

and get it tax free.

thats not true.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Yeah, those waiters living high on the hog. That gravy train has got to stop.

no one should be exempt from paying income taxes. whether or not they are fairly compensated is a different discussion. its a failure of the government and of the tax code.

black market & under the table payments are a big reason why i support more sales tax and less income tax

 

[Exterous]

Yeah the minimum wage for tipped jobs is $2.63 an hour. They're really living high on the hog on that.

If only there was some sort of law that required the business to make sure they were paid at least minimum wage...

I never understood the concept of the automatic tip simply because you have a larger party. How did this practice become the norm?

I'm guessing it was to deal with the shitty large group tippers out there.

I always tip well if its a big group and the service is good but I really despise having to argue automatic gratuity when the service sucks so, anechdotally, I am happy with this news

thats not true.

Certainly not a guarantee but under reporting cash tips is not exactly a new thing

 

[Dirigible]

I thought this thread would have helpful tips for saying goodbye.

Leaving disappointed.

 

[zerocool84]

Yeah the minimum wage for tipped jobs is $2.63 an hour. They're really living high on the hog on that.

Many states they get minimum wage ON TOP of tips, and legally, they have to make minimum wage no matter how much their tips are anywhere in the country.

 

[lupi]

I did love the part about the negative response towards this being that they'd have to pay standard payroll taxes on the tips.

 

[JEDI]

Many states they get minimum wage ON TOP of tips, and legally, they have to make minimum wage no matter how much their tips are anywhere in the country.

wished all states required that. then we can ban tipping all together since we all will now know everyone is making at least $7.25/hr.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I never understood the concept of the automatic tip simply because you have a larger party.

By default a server is assigned a section of tables. Each time a person or group sits at a table its a chance for a tip.

With large parties, often they take up more of the server's time and assigned area, aka they basically represent many smaller tables over the night but in one shot.

The problem is that if a large group stiffs on a tip, it's much worse than a single small table stiffing on a tip because there is less of a chance that another table will make up the difference by the end. So restaurants force large tables to tip decently to mitigate that risk.

If they don't do that, then servers will give large groups (which often drop a lot at a restaurant and therefore are good for the establishment) worse treatment in order to serve the smaller tables they do get better.

 

[Sonikku]

Why should I have to tip? I don't have to tip people at McDonalds.