Skip to main content

Tips For The IRS

Our friends at the IRS are cracking down on the people who do not need to be cracked down upon... The Service Industry.  Starting in January 2014, the large party automatic gratuity will go away and be replaced as a "service charge," so restaurants will have to report this income and it will be taxed.  What does this mean for many servers?  Most places will probably do away with the large party gratuity and leave it up to the customers to determine the tip for a party of 8 or more people.

Great!  Just what a server wants to hear.  That their tip is being handled by the restaurant they work for and the customers we serve.  Right now, I happen to work at both a hotel restaurant, and a "free-standing" restaurant.  At the hotel, they've moved our tips onto a paycheck so all of our tips are taxed.  At first, it sucked.  But I realized later that it's better for things like trying to get a loan, or to show income by having my tips on my paycheck.  But the other restaurant doesn't do that.  That's what most servers want, because it's up to us to report our tips to the IRS.  Most credit card tips are taxed, leaving the cash tips up to the server to declare.

Not declaring your tips is a mistake.  As a server, I'm not supposed to say that, but it's true.  Like one of my old managers used to say, "You have to declare all of your tips.  It's not the '80s for Christ's sake!"  Which still makes no sense to me considering I wasn't old enough to wait tables in the '80s.  Unless you count setting and clearing the dinner table growing up.  But I was never tipped for that.

The real debate going on across the country is one about wages.  As far as I know, California has the best wages for the service industry.  Minimum wage is $8.00 an hour.  Texas still pays their servers $2.12 an hour, and they've been doing that since the early '90s!  Most customers don't feel like it's their place to have to make up for lousy wages with a hefty tip so us servers can afford to live.  I get where those customers are coming from, but also, it's been a tipping society for centuries.  In the Old West, you would order a bottle of Sarsaparilla from the bartender and throw a giant gold coin on the bar with a (BAM!) and that would be the payment and the tip.  So nothing has changed.

People just want to eliminate tipping all together.  Forcing restaurant owners to offer some sort of salary to it's employees.  That's not a good idea.  Most restaurant owners I know would make that salary very low, and the amount of people working in the service industry would decrease.  It wouldn't be a desirable job anymore.  Not only that but also the prices on menus would significantly go up because that's how the owners would have to pay the salaries.  Causing a huge ripple effect, making going out to eat a luxury for only the upper class.  And they don't need anymore luxuries.

Until next time... Server's don't pay their rent with compliments.

"Bitter.  Party of 1?  Your table is ready."

The Bitter Bistro




FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER CLICK HERE
"LIKE" ME ON FACEBOOK CLICK HERE

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You Got Yelp!!!

What better way to get through the work week than to pick on the people who's parents truly should have considered contraceptives before having sex, the people who write negative reviews on Yelp.com. As always, I have found someone who embodies the spirit of "douchebaggery."  Who alone, stands to make a mark on the world because he is THAT important.  (And by mark, I mean skid mark.) Scott B., from Beverly Hills, CA makes the list.  His review is short, direct, and abrupt, because he's "got places to go people!"  Here's what Scott had to say about one restaurant in Los Angeles: "If you have an unlimited amount of time and an equally unlimited amount of patience, than this place might be worth it."  It's nice to see that Scott was stepping out of his box to test himself on this theory. "If I ever indeed got serviced within the time frame I had to eat, I might chance the food again!"   Since Scott is obviously an alien, h
Post a Comment
Read more

Excuse Tips

It's ideal for a server to receive 18 to 20 percent gratuity for a job well done.  Now it seems that customers are looking to leave an excuse rather than a monetary tip explaining why they couldn't leave their server any money.  WTF?!! Of course, because my landlord would love to receive an excuse instead of a check for rent this month. "I don't have the money for rent, because I'm a writer/comedian.  But I adore this building.  So secure." The above picture was found on Yahoo.com .  One of the comments said that they thought this was an altered pic, but I have actually seen this happen to myself and co-workers.  And by-the-way, what if the server waiting on the woman was a single parent?  So the lady who wrote this has now started a domino effect on their server who is struggling to make ends meet.  And so on, and so on...  Get bent! I don't believe in saying that if you can't afford to go out, that you should never go out.  There are ways t
89 comments
Read more

10 Ways To Get Better Service At A Restaurant

I have noticed that there are many variables that can lead to a bad dining experience, and for the customer to say that they received "poor service" has become cliche, and just the "go to" for when all things go bad in a restaurant.  Here is a Top 10 list to help customers have a positive experience the next time they dine out. 10.  SIT AT THE FIRST TABLE THE HOST GIVES YOU "This table's too round.  This table's too brown.  This table's just right."  You are not buying real estate.  So for you to pass on the first, then the second, and even the third table option the host gives you is beyond ridiculous.  The tables are all made the same, have four legs, four chairs, (if applicable,) and are strong enough to hold food, drinks, and purses.  And if you pass on a table, now you've messed up the floor plan that the host has prepared at the beginning of their shift, and everybody in the restaurant takes notice as you are aimlessly walking a
31 comments
Read more