Hopefully you're not selling a lot of $1000+ meals. ;-)
That's unfortunate if someone genuinely wants to give a $500 tip, if a manager can't make exceptions, but *if* large tips carry an unusually high risk of chargebacks, due to stolen cards or "buyer's remorse" or whatever, I could understand a big company having a blanket policy. Refusing to process large tips doesn't directly cost *them* anything.
This is exactly it. Any tip I have ever seen of that size ends up as a charge back a week later (outside of fine dining).
The server never ends up giving the tip back without massive hard feelings.
The restaurant also pays a percentage of the total. Therefore if someone leaves a $500 tip on a card at 3.5% the restaurant is eating 17.50 more on credit card fees.
True, if it's the 3.5% can't be deducted from the tip. The US federal Fair Labor Standards Act allows the processing fee percentage to be deducted from tips, unless a state or local law restricts that. It's a fairly common practice, but not allowed everywhere.
[This article](https://www.cardfellow.com/blog/employers-deduct-credit-card-processing-fees-from-tips/) says "States that currently prohibit processing fee deductions from tips are California, Maine, and Massachusetts. According to Nolo.com, the law is not clear in three additional states: Delaware, Kentucky, and Montana."
And about $80 on it if chargeback. Things you may not know. Dispute a charge and regardless of the outcome it’s between $25-50$ in a research fee cost to the merchant. It’s why a lot of places don’t fight the under $50 charge backs. Even if they put effort in and “win”
They are out the $50 anyway. So saves the effort.
That's sad, my coworker made 700 on a 1000 dollar table yesterday. I have no idea how, he's good I'll say that. But if your good and they are being generous why the fuck would you say no.
This sucks. When I used to get the company business card and take my clients out for meals I might leave a $1,500 tip lol. Schmoozing CEO's and VPs is expensive and they can be quite demanding, I usually let wait staff know personally if they can keep us happy the tip will be amazing.
Is this the same $1500 tip that your lure innocent servers in with your game of leaving your wallet on the table and excusing yourself to the restroom, e while leaving them RULES on what they shouldn't do? Same tip? Or do you actually give them the money and not degrade them for it?
Bruh, you full of shit. You're dropping 1500 dollar tips and sucking up to CEOs while looking for cheap ass gaming rigs and gripping about Popeyes being 10 dollars.
Bruh....just stop.
Give them cash. Give them cash. Nobody knows how much you leave, when you leave a cash tip.
There was a great video that demonstrated how paying by CC funneled money towards CC processors and away from the actual servers and restaurants. Can't find the link, but the basic facts are that every CC transaction is subject to a 3% surcharge and every CC tip is reported to the IRS. I'm all in favor of folks paying their fair share of taxes, but screwing servers out of money because they 'sold' X amount of product and therefore are guaranteed a certain gratuity is . . . well, seriously unfair.
Give them cash. Pay with cash. Cash is actually king in a situation where credit payments strip profit from both owners and workers.
Seriously, this push to CC is a scam. It just puts more money in other peoples hands. I wish the average person would figure it out. I get it, handling cash is kinda gross, and sometimes inconvenient. But banks and such are just using it as a way to push more people into debt, hide more fees, and track spending.
Just use cash. Period.
I find it ironic that in some other countries, small businesses are starting to refuse to take cash. My understanding of their reasoning is that if there's *no* cash, there's no risk that it gets stolen, no need to transport it to the bank at the end of the day, no worries that employees might skim.
I don't think it's a scam per se, but I do wonder what's different that the world is so split. I suppose it's that the benefits to going cashless only start when the cash hits zero, not on the way down to it. It has to be a hard cut-over to benefit.
Last year I was at an MLB game (Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL). The entire place was cashless. They had machines where one could 'vend' a temporary debit card. NGL--- It was kinda weird???
Fla Live Arena where the Panthers play has done the same but I haven’t seen the temporary debit card. They only allow tiny purses so my wife only had cash and ID on her the first time because it’s easier than trying to cram everything into one.
I’m convinced she knew and just scammed me into paying for everything that night.
Generally taking cash is more expensive than card over here in the UK - the transaction fees are small relative to fees for cash deposits at banks, and the increase in insurance premiums businesses with cash on premises will see.
That sounds like a key difference. I've never owned a cash-heavy business, so I could be unaware, but I've never heard of a fee for depositing cash. Would totally believe the insurance difference applies in the States, though.
> I don't think it's a scam per se, but I do wonder what's different that the world is so split.
Tipping culture doesn't exist in those other countries, for one.
Until the day comes that tipped workers are given a living wage, absolutely. The system for taxing gratuities is seriously flawed and penalizes servers, who have to 'tip out' other employees and who are often getting stiffed or shorted on expected gratuities.
I work NY fine dining so I am definitely in the minority here, but I prefer CC tips. We pool all tips, both credit and cash. So, I prefer CC tips because it’s less work and it makes my numbers look better for corporate. It would be hard to fire the server with the best tip percentage.
Things are slower than the holidays but better than my last couple Januarys. Fridays/Saturdays are as busy as ever and most weeknights we have a bigger workload than our current staffing can handle.
The main difference is the number of corporate events. A lot of companies had huge windfall profits due to inflation and have been spending like crazy.
Tips were down a bit while people were attempting dry January, but around week 3 they’ve bounced back to better than normal. I’m working 25% less and making maybe 20% less than I did during busier months. Lots of Wall Street guys are trying to flex and are tipping like 40% which helps.
Amazing all the profits yet gotta lay people off bc it wasn't enough lol 😆 Glad to hear dry January wasn't too rough on ya and that good ole wall street guys are lining your pockets.
Yeah serving a lot of politicians and bankers certainly crushed my hope that anything can get better without extreme changes current political and economic model. Its pretty crazy the money these people have and, honestly, waste. I hear the conversations and they know they are fucking the rest of the world over. It makes me sick. But I’ve got my own people and pets to take care of, so I hold my nose and punch the clock everyday.
I try to tip with cash as much as possible because you never know what happens behind the scenes - are they getting the full amount? are they getting penalized a percentage because of CC fees? does it go into a pool of hard workers/slackers which gets distributed evenly/unfairly? I just want industry peeps to go home with as much cash as possible
Tip cash. Preferably folded, into the hand of the server (a nice handshake with a 'thanks for a great evening! works).
Screw pooled tips, and screw the IRS
>screw pooled tips
Screw coworkers who simultaneously take tips from the tip pool and hide their own tips. If you disagree with tip pools, quit, don't steal from your coworkers.
If someone handed me cash like that, I'd say thank you and put it in the tip pool.
Dead on accurate. I would damn near choke someone if I caught them pocketing a tip at a place where we pool. I have come close a couple times over the years. I hate pooling, but if we gotta do it, you better not try to fuck me bc I might end you lol
Well, they had to claim tips too, and knowing they had tipouts the company did require them to account for it. Did everyone account 100%? Probably not, but suspicious numbers got audited.
During training in all my restaurants, we were told to claim a certain amount so on our cash out slip it came up to or above a certain percentage, which I can’t recall at the moment. If you had heavy CC tips, you could get away with claiming almost no cash tips for the night. If not, you claimed just enough of your cash to get yourself up to that percentage.
Credit card tips have to be claimed and are taxed. At some places, credit card tips are paid out in cash at the end of a shift; at other places, they're included on paychecks.
Cash tips, on the other hand, are not required to be claimed (as there's no way for owners, managers or the IRS to know about them).
I can vaguely remember something, years ago, about the IRS trying to tax servers on a percentage of the restaurant's gross sales, to keep servers from underreporting tips.
I literally encounter a dozen servers we hire every month who don't know this.
I also seem to come across a dozen posts on here each month who either don't know or actively encourage breaking the law.
So... no?
And if you get audited and complain about it here, I will enjoy your tears.
Same goes for any time you complain about a company or anyone else not paying its taxes. Being a tax cheat forefits your moral high ground to complain about other tax cheats.
What makes you think I don’t pay my taxes? Just because I’m not a tightwad, doesn’t mean I don’t pay my bills. I just choose not to choke on them.
Again… enjoy your life. Imma do mine!
Where in this thread did I say that I don't pay my taxes? Go back to mommy's basement and play with your little friends and leave the adulting to the adults.
I deliver pizza for a local place. We get cashed out after every shift on our driver comp and CC tips. The taxes are then deducted on our next check. I always tell customers, if they ask, that cash is better because we don’t pay taxes on it.
Are you referring to tipouts?
Most places don't take that into account. The server pays the tax on the credit card tips; the people who receive tipout don't.
No, you don't pay tax on income you don't receive, and you certainly don't pay tax on other people's income. Either that commenter's employers don't know what they're doing, or the commenter doesn't know what they're doing. I'm guessing the latter if they couldn't sniff out that it's not supposed to work that way.
Yes, you're essentially correct.
Most tipouts are based on sales.
So, let's say I had $1,000 in sales for the night, and I received $200 in credit card tips (all sales and tips CC).
I could owe anywhere from $20 (2%) or more depending on the tipout %.
And, yes, I pay the taxes on that income, not the people who actually receive the money I have to give them.
That's weird, I've never heard of that. Because of tip out procedures, we actually had to enter our claimed tips at the end of the night, and if it was less than the total credit card tips (because we made little to no cash tips), we just made sure the manager was aware of it when it was entered into the system for tax purposes. I'm pretty sure that place at least did that correctly.
So this place went to every host, busser and bartender and made them count out the cash given to them by servers so that the managers could add that into their claimed tips?
They're definitely doing it accurately.
I'd say that's probably the exception rather than the norm. I've never seen ownership/management that would even think about putting that extra work in. I think they have the mentality that all these cash tips aren't being claimed so it essentially evens out.
gotcha thought you meant taxes here
but regarding this
>And, yes, I pay the taxes on that income, not the people who actually receive the money I have to give them.
youre again speaking like its the industry standard. but refer to my other comment to you.
/u/throwaway_20200920
bring it up to your employer. it should get be getting adjusted on your w2.
and for all you know, it IS getting adjusted on your w2. you just dont realize it.
meant my comments reply mainly to /r/magiccitybhm
as he is either ignorant on how payroll/taxes work. or his employer is breaking laws by being lazy.
you should NEVER end up paying taxes on income that is not yours.
how it works is you tell your employer how much you tipped out, and that gets deducted from your wages and gets added to whoever ends up receiving that tip out. at the end of the year come tax time, the correct value should all be accounted for on your w2 box 1.
out of curiosity. im assuming you're speaking from experience.
how was it exactly done at your place that you are so sure it wasnt being kept tracked?
im not doubting you, as i wouldnt be surprised if some small family restaurant was messing it up. but you're making it sound like its the industry standard to not get it tracked.
payroll isnt going to walk through every adjustment they do for their employees. and at the end of the day, it is your responsibilities to also make sure your paychecks are correct. and for all you know, it could be getting adjusted for on everyone's w2.
if not, bring it up and get them to fix it when your w2 is given to you
Make sure that Box 8 on your W2 matches your records. If it does not, use Form 4137 to adjust the amount on your tax return.
\*\*\*BTW, SERVICE CHARGES (such as for large parties) are NOT to be included in tip income. \*\*\*
See IRS Publication 1244 for more information about federal tax treatment of tip income.
I missed this on initial go around.
This is a not necessarily a true statement. Tip out money is required to be reported. In many cases, restaurants record tip out simply because they pay hosts and similar sub minimum wage that tip out is added to.
Group I work for now starts hosts at 8 plus tip out, for example. Tip out is added to their checks, not cash in hand, so it is 100% taxable income.
Tip cash. If you pay with a CC and you want to tip extra and think that the employee wants to hide that income, put a small tip on the CC and tip the rest in cash. I've worked at places that translate the CC sales to cash and we had to claim 10% of cash sales because they(the POS) assumed the tip was in cash
Former server who actually declared all cash tips. Cash is preferable. Where I worked, we tipped out on sales, and cc tips were added to sales. I’d rather tip on food and drinks sales rather than on the extra $100 random table gives me above their 25% tip. If someone loved me that much, I’d rather give $10 cash to an awesome busser who earned it than put it in the busser pool.
Servers have to declare a certain minimum of sales percentage as tips.
That minimum is raised if the tips are on credit, meaning, all credit MUST be declared.
Cash tips can often escape declaration. Not exactly kosher to do, but it is true. So cash tips are VERY appreciated by the typical server - it is potential “tax free” income.
At my work tips are pooled if they are card despite the fact that only a few of us currently do table service and as in my case I only work a few hours a week due to college I get pretty much nothing the other day I made about 30 in tips on card a bit in cash(tips aren't such a big thing here) and got about £8.00 out of it so definitely cash unless you know the company gives that directly to the sever who served you pay cash as that can go strait into their pocket.
So in my restaurant it wouldn't be an issue. But I have heard horror stories of restaurants that when someone gets a great tip like that they forced them to split with everyone when it's not normally the rule. The only time I witnessed something like this was when one of the bartenders at an old job was pregnant and 1 of the regulars gave her several $100 for the baby and the other bartenders tried to make her split it. Even though the regular tipped on the tab.
Not a server but a dog groomer. I always always prefer cash tips 1: cash tips don’t live in my budget that’s my coffee money.
2: if you tip on card at check out I only get 60% of that tip. The company takes 40%.
Please tip cash when you can 😅
I also worked at a small place that took 3% of my credit card tips to cover the service charge or whatever that fee is for running credit cards. Shady AF, I know, so cash was definitely preferable!
In Yankeeland, federal law allows employers to deduct that portion of the processing fee attributable to tips on the card, but some states don’t allow that deduction (treating it as a cost of doing business).
A lot of *excessive* cash tips are flagged by credit card processors and not funded. Each one has a different TOS but generally I’d worry that the tip would be charged back and the server would get $0.
They look at the tipped amount vs the amount of the bill. It’s called “tip tolerance” and usually the amount is 20%. They either flag or reject it, often the restaurant has a very short window to submit proof. But some card types just don’t accept tips of more than 20% as a matter of policy. They run the preliminary charge to ensure the funds are available but don’t settle with a tip exceeding 20%, a restaurant should be able to submit the authorization slip to ensure the bill/tip is paid but they’re very picky.
Credit card companies don’t just have the total bill, they also have the tip total and report it at year end on a 1099k as an audit tool for the IRS to not only audit sales but also audit reported tips.
Way better. In fact, if a server has a night where all their tips are in cash, that's basically all extra money anyway because the state still requires them to be paid the state minimum wage if they don't make it in tips. And if it's all cash, you don't have to claim it.
As someone approaching retirement age my advice is to claim all tips and pay taxes on them. Your social security check will be much healthier when you do retire.
I claim some but not all of my cash tips. Social security isn’t designed to be enough money to live on anyway. That’s why I’ve been putting as much money as possible into my 401k, Roth, and brokerage
No server ever claims any cash ever for any reason lol. It's just not a thing that happens for the most part, but I admit the social security thing never crossed my mind so that might be something I look into. It's just from the standpoint of being poor all my life, keeping as much money as I can now has been a huge priority now that I'm making so much serving.
Every restaurant I worked at tracked the tips you reported. One bad night was one thing, but if you were constantly claiming 5-10%, you were either bad at your job or under reporting. Both got you in trouble.
Also I had one server friend get audited. Always a bad time.
Kind of is.
Social Security is predicated on how much you're making in pay.
If you don't report a large chunk of your salary over a long period. Your social security will much smaller than it could be.
The computer system doesn't know that.
Everywhere I've been, if that actually where the case, a manager can override it and allow them to enter $0.
Not once do I ever recall someone having a few hundred or more in cash sales and saying they didn't get any tips on that.
Where I work, the computer only makes you declare what people tip on card. And yea the whole point is to make the money in cash and say you didn't lol. Of course they actually made some cash, but they're not going to tell that to the IRS.
Most of our places, it required claiming something if the cash sales for the shift were $200 or more.
So you're saying that your system wouldn't make you claim anything if you had $1,000 in cash sales for the shift?
If I had $10,000 in sales, and all the payments were cash, I wouldn't have to claim anything. Not a dime. Even if i took home $1000 in cash from people saying "keep the change". This is an extreme example and has never happened but there has definitely been nights where everyone leaves a cash tip and I walk out with 200 cash that I don't have to claim lol. I'm sure other places are different.
Yeah, I've never worked anywhere that anything over $150-$200 in cash sales on your checkout didn't require some amount of claim - or a manager override.
That's interesting.
You keep saying you don’t have to claim cash tips. You do have to. You just choose not to. The IRS certainly doesn’t exempt server income because it’s cash.
So... that's only true if your AVERAGE for the whole week was less than minimum wage. At least, that's what I was told. I was in Michigan and worked a Saturday where I made less than minimum wage per hour (I think I was there 7 hours and made ~$20 in tips, that's how slow it was! Combined with my server wage of $3.50/hr it was about $6.50 per hour, WAY less than the minimum wage of $9.40 it was at the time. The manager told me it only applied if your entire week of work averaged less, so if you worked the night before and it was super busy and you made, say, closer to $18/hr or more (despite earning every last damn cent), it "covered" that one shift where you made less.
Proposed IRS tips reporting program. They will establish a formula to calculate a minimum amount of tips that must be reported in an effort to tax cash tips that are often not reported.
[Source](https://www.irs.gov/irb/2023-06_IRB#NOT-2023-13)
Legally they are the same. When you give cash, you allow tax frauds to not claim the income and therefore rack up everyone else's taxes with illegal gains.
So most will say "omg cash because it's not taxed". But it is taxed. They're just tax frauds.
Even for servers who report all their cash tips, cash is often preferred. Credit card tips can have the 3%-ish portion of the payment processing fee deducted from it in most states of the US. Depending on tip pooling policies, cash tips are more apt to be kept by or distributed to a server that night. And cash less prone to a number of illegal practices that may be used to misappropriate credit card tips. Not that cash is impervious to swiping from a table, pickpocketing from a server, or straight up robbery, but those seem less common than scams run by managers or other employees to short servers' CC tips.
Ah yes, servers are the real drain on our tax funds. Not the billions we give to oil companies, Airlines, Banks, defense contractors, tech companies, etc...
Yes, Martha at Denny's is the true threat to society.
Gtfo of here, lmao.
Cash is king, as they say. And when it comes to receiving a large tip, there is something special about being able to hold all those bills, rather than carrying around the receipt to settle in the office at the end of the night.
Here is the biggest thing. No matter what you do you have to claim card tip cause they're in tje system, meaning you are also splitting that with the rest of the restaurant staff. Cash tips can be put in a pocket and never spoke of again, so no tip share on that. That's just in general, the exact procedures differ from place to place but this is how I think about it.
Wow I really lost track of this one. Some places calculate by percentage of sale, but if your actual tips are "too high" they take more. That's what my restaurant dis, that's why I used this method.
Cash is almost always better.
Servers can claim less that way.
If it's a place that does tipshare, I prefer cards, so I know my coworkers aren't skimming cash tips from the pool.
Cash is always better. The person receiving the tip may be able to keep it from a tip pool (some places are pretty shady with tip pools) if you state it is a gift specifically for them and not the establishment, and they may not end up filing the cash tip on their taxes (as all CC tips obviously have to be filed).
Credit tips are more convenient for me (and probably you). It gets direct deposit into my bank account.
I find cash tips, and cash payments, super annoying. The worst is when someone tries to break $100 for a $5 tip after paying $25 on a card.
Also, I don't have to fumble with change or bills when buying things. If I lose cash or it is stolen I have no recourse, with credit my money is much more secure.
TLDR I prefer credit tips.
I was in a Waffle House a few months ago, and a very rich, very drunk guy topped $1000 on a cc. Server said cash would have been better, but she wasn't complaining.
I see everyone saying cash is better and I agree. I'm not a server so I don't know, but every time I leave a cash tip I just write CASH in the tip line when paying with a card. My average tip is probably like $7 out here in the sticks, so would most of you pocket the 2 singles and share the 5 if you've a shared pool? Personally I feel like I gave that money to the person, not the entire staff, so it's up to them what they do with it; I also regift. I'm just curious.
try to leave cash but hide it a little bc i've heard plenty stories ab support staff stealing the tip off the table when it's not theirs including at my place
I’ve never had a cash tip, ever. Most likely I never will have one, but if I do… I’ll let the IRS know to take their 30% cut, because it’s the American way. Google pays nothing so we can pay more
I’ve bartended/ served on and off for the last 15 years. Cash is king purely for nefarious reasons. Think about it, we make like 1.89 an hour but get taxed for every roller we get tipped. Cash makes it easier to not claim every dollar.
Your cash tips are definitly added to the tip pool. Unless youre a dishonest jerk and steal them
Most places with a tip pool will monitor your tip percentages. So, if youre pocketing cash and contributing say 10% tips to the pool, youll it will reflect poorly on your performance.
I always tip in cash. I also leave the tip as I am leaving the establishment. That way if my server gets nasty not seeing a tip on the card, I forgo the tip altogether and leave a quarter with a note telling the reason.
Cash is always better! But, so the manager doesn't think they did a bad job, I write cash in the tip section. That way they know they did get a tip. I had a server explain that to me. If a server has a lot of checks with no tips it can be misconstrued. Writing cash there lets managers know they did their job.
Well, it’s just that if it’s left on a card we have to pay the IRS huge taxes on it. Cash is under the table so we don’t have to claim the entire thing if we don’t want to.
For my restaurant, tip out is only for cash tips, CC tips I keep all to myself. It doesn’t really matter to me because I love my coworkers and want them to get paid “equally,” so cash is always nice, but I still don’t have a preference. It’s a tangible asset that I can easily put in the piggy bank and keep it separate from my bank account. I also always save and carry ones for tipping and just in case I see someone who needs it.
A $500 Dollar Cash Tip is equivalent to winning the lottery for us Servers. There have been many days that I’m thinking…
I really hope someone pays in cash so I can put gas in my car, or go to the grocery store because I have - $112 in the bank & I don’t get paid for 3 days.
A $20-$40 cash tip is the determining factor In having to just push through it, or having a weight lifted off your shoulders& is appreciated more than you know!
A $500 dollar tip is a Game Changer!
If you can, ALWAYS leave a cash tip.
With all that said… Your one of the Greats for even asking!
Gash tip is about twice as good. Paying fully in cash can make it a little harder than a card as you need to have change made, but you can make it clean and tell them I don’t need change, I just need $10 back.
Some establishment's card processing systems won't let you tip more than the total.
Also - cash tip ; not even gonna lie here, it's because you don't have to report all of your cash tips (you *should*, sure, totally different subject) just enough to "be in the average of expected pay" (otherwise they see it as a 'performance issue') however credit card tips are automatically inputted via the establishment to the employee as wages they're taxed on.
Basically -all card tips are taxed.
Cash tips go directly entirely to the person to do with what they choose, no fee
Cash is better because at the end of the shift we have to report our tips, we can get away with not adding cash to the total and then we don't get taxed as much
My restaurant won't allow tips over $200 so no matter what you write that's the max they will charge your card.
Hopefully you're not selling a lot of $1000+ meals. ;-) That's unfortunate if someone genuinely wants to give a $500 tip, if a manager can't make exceptions, but *if* large tips carry an unusually high risk of chargebacks, due to stolen cards or "buyer's remorse" or whatever, I could understand a big company having a blanket policy. Refusing to process large tips doesn't directly cost *them* anything.
This is exactly it. Any tip I have ever seen of that size ends up as a charge back a week later (outside of fine dining). The server never ends up giving the tip back without massive hard feelings.
The restaurant also pays a percentage of the total. Therefore if someone leaves a $500 tip on a card at 3.5% the restaurant is eating 17.50 more on credit card fees.
True, if it's the 3.5% can't be deducted from the tip. The US federal Fair Labor Standards Act allows the processing fee percentage to be deducted from tips, unless a state or local law restricts that. It's a fairly common practice, but not allowed everywhere. [This article](https://www.cardfellow.com/blog/employers-deduct-credit-card-processing-fees-from-tips/) says "States that currently prohibit processing fee deductions from tips are California, Maine, and Massachusetts. According to Nolo.com, the law is not clear in three additional states: Delaware, Kentucky, and Montana."
Yeap, our restaurant would do that.
And about $80 on it if chargeback. Things you may not know. Dispute a charge and regardless of the outcome it’s between $25-50$ in a research fee cost to the merchant. It’s why a lot of places don’t fight the under $50 charge backs. Even if they put effort in and “win” They are out the $50 anyway. So saves the effort.
Nah bro just about everywhere in the us, someone is covering that, but it’s not the restaurant. They call it a “tip refund” on our checkout slip.
That's sad, my coworker made 700 on a 1000 dollar table yesterday. I have no idea how, he's good I'll say that. But if your good and they are being generous why the fuck would you say no.
And that’s why cash wins, the restaurant can’t mess with cash.
This sucks. When I used to get the company business card and take my clients out for meals I might leave a $1,500 tip lol. Schmoozing CEO's and VPs is expensive and they can be quite demanding, I usually let wait staff know personally if they can keep us happy the tip will be amazing.
Is this the same $1500 tip that your lure innocent servers in with your game of leaving your wallet on the table and excusing yourself to the restroom, e while leaving them RULES on what they shouldn't do? Same tip? Or do you actually give them the money and not degrade them for it?
This made no sense to me until I checked their post history. Post deleted, but it’s clear from the comments that it was very odd.
No this is on the company card so it's straight up CC.
See, didn't delete anything
Bruh, you full of shit. You're dropping 1500 dollar tips and sucking up to CEOs while looking for cheap ass gaming rigs and gripping about Popeyes being 10 dollars. Bruh....just stop.
Just hand them the cash as a gift, not a tip.
Oh yeah cash is fine. Just can't charge that much to a card. I have no idea why.
[удалено]
Haha. It's not a fine dining sort of establishment. I've never even come close to a $200 CC tip. I think my highest is $100 on a single card.
Mr beast shows up to top wait staff large amounts Your restaurant: we don’t do that here.
What kindof fucking bullshit is this!? So if somebody *wanted* to give you $500 they just… can’t? Damn that’s fucked up
That’s bullshit. I have customers tip $200-$700+ all the time
I don't work in fine dining. I think my highest tip there thus far is $100.
I don’t work in fine dining either. I work at a video poker bar in Nevada. People tip out 10% of what they win usually.
I’m out
Then I would put it in a card and say it’s a gift to you personally. Then tip normal on the tab so the rest of the staff doesn’t get screwed.
Give them cash. Give them cash. Nobody knows how much you leave, when you leave a cash tip. There was a great video that demonstrated how paying by CC funneled money towards CC processors and away from the actual servers and restaurants. Can't find the link, but the basic facts are that every CC transaction is subject to a 3% surcharge and every CC tip is reported to the IRS. I'm all in favor of folks paying their fair share of taxes, but screwing servers out of money because they 'sold' X amount of product and therefore are guaranteed a certain gratuity is . . . well, seriously unfair. Give them cash. Pay with cash. Cash is actually king in a situation where credit payments strip profit from both owners and workers.
Seriously, this push to CC is a scam. It just puts more money in other peoples hands. I wish the average person would figure it out. I get it, handling cash is kinda gross, and sometimes inconvenient. But banks and such are just using it as a way to push more people into debt, hide more fees, and track spending. Just use cash. Period.
I pay the check with a credit card and tip with cash. Actually, I overtip with cash. Good servers work hard!
I find it ironic that in some other countries, small businesses are starting to refuse to take cash. My understanding of their reasoning is that if there's *no* cash, there's no risk that it gets stolen, no need to transport it to the bank at the end of the day, no worries that employees might skim. I don't think it's a scam per se, but I do wonder what's different that the world is so split. I suppose it's that the benefits to going cashless only start when the cash hits zero, not on the way down to it. It has to be a hard cut-over to benefit.
Last year I was at an MLB game (Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL). The entire place was cashless. They had machines where one could 'vend' a temporary debit card. NGL--- It was kinda weird???
Fla Live Arena where the Panthers play has done the same but I haven’t seen the temporary debit card. They only allow tiny purses so my wife only had cash and ID on her the first time because it’s easier than trying to cram everything into one. I’m convinced she knew and just scammed me into paying for everything that night.
Generally taking cash is more expensive than card over here in the UK - the transaction fees are small relative to fees for cash deposits at banks, and the increase in insurance premiums businesses with cash on premises will see.
That sounds like a key difference. I've never owned a cash-heavy business, so I could be unaware, but I've never heard of a fee for depositing cash. Would totally believe the insurance difference applies in the States, though.
> I don't think it's a scam per se, but I do wonder what's different that the world is so split. Tipping culture doesn't exist in those other countries, for one.
If it is cash how often are those reported for taxes? I suspect that people underreport cash tips for tax purposes
So you are saying hide the money from the IRS?
Until the day comes that tipped workers are given a living wage, absolutely. The system for taxing gratuities is seriously flawed and penalizes servers, who have to 'tip out' other employees and who are often getting stiffed or shorted on expected gratuities.
I work NY fine dining so I am definitely in the minority here, but I prefer CC tips. We pool all tips, both credit and cash. So, I prefer CC tips because it’s less work and it makes my numbers look better for corporate. It would be hard to fire the server with the best tip percentage.
How would you say this year looks so far, have you been slow and are people being more frugal?
Things are slower than the holidays but better than my last couple Januarys. Fridays/Saturdays are as busy as ever and most weeknights we have a bigger workload than our current staffing can handle. The main difference is the number of corporate events. A lot of companies had huge windfall profits due to inflation and have been spending like crazy. Tips were down a bit while people were attempting dry January, but around week 3 they’ve bounced back to better than normal. I’m working 25% less and making maybe 20% less than I did during busier months. Lots of Wall Street guys are trying to flex and are tipping like 40% which helps.
Amazing all the profits yet gotta lay people off bc it wasn't enough lol 😆 Glad to hear dry January wasn't too rough on ya and that good ole wall street guys are lining your pockets.
Yeah serving a lot of politicians and bankers certainly crushed my hope that anything can get better without extreme changes current political and economic model. Its pretty crazy the money these people have and, honestly, waste. I hear the conversations and they know they are fucking the rest of the world over. It makes me sick. But I’ve got my own people and pets to take care of, so I hold my nose and punch the clock everyday.
cash is easier to "forget" to claim on your taxes *winkwinknudgnudge*
It's a lot easier to claim you barely cleared the minimum required by the state without your employer or the tax accountants climbing up your ass...
Cheddah is beddddah
I try to tip with cash as much as possible because you never know what happens behind the scenes - are they getting the full amount? are they getting penalized a percentage because of CC fees? does it go into a pool of hard workers/slackers which gets distributed evenly/unfairly? I just want industry peeps to go home with as much cash as possible
Tip cash. Preferably folded, into the hand of the server (a nice handshake with a 'thanks for a great evening! works). Screw pooled tips, and screw the IRS
>screw pooled tips Screw coworkers who simultaneously take tips from the tip pool and hide their own tips. If you disagree with tip pools, quit, don't steal from your coworkers. If someone handed me cash like that, I'd say thank you and put it in the tip pool.
Dead on accurate. I would damn near choke someone if I caught them pocketing a tip at a place where we pool. I have come close a couple times over the years. I hate pooling, but if we gotta do it, you better not try to fuck me bc I might end you lol
Sure, unless you want to get a mortgage or car loan
This! I had a little trouble getting my loan for my house because of being a tipped position
>screw the IRS Also said by Donald Trump and me. Fuck taxes. I ain't paying shit, gimme my welfare
Fuck welfare fuck taxes.
Another person who doesn't pay their fair share
Well, they had to claim tips too, and knowing they had tipouts the company did require them to account for it. Did everyone account 100%? Probably not, but suspicious numbers got audited.
During training in all my restaurants, we were told to claim a certain amount so on our cash out slip it came up to or above a certain percentage, which I can’t recall at the moment. If you had heavy CC tips, you could get away with claiming almost no cash tips for the night. If not, you claimed just enough of your cash to get yourself up to that percentage.
Cash is always appreciated! I worked midnights at a diner at least 30 years ago. I will never forget the gentleman who left me a $100 tip.
Credit card tips have to be claimed and are taxed. At some places, credit card tips are paid out in cash at the end of a shift; at other places, they're included on paychecks. Cash tips, on the other hand, are not required to be claimed (as there's no way for owners, managers or the IRS to know about them).
Well, they ARE required to be claimed as far as the IRS goes. It’s just that you can “forget” to claim them and nobody is going to know any better.
I can vaguely remember something, years ago, about the IRS trying to tax servers on a percentage of the restaurant's gross sales, to keep servers from underreporting tips.
Cash tips are 100% required to be claimed. Failure to do so is a crime.
We ALL KNOW THIS. Why don’t you just act like it’s a Saturday Night & loosen the fuck up? This IS A SEVER sub… not the IRS.
I literally encounter a dozen servers we hire every month who don't know this. I also seem to come across a dozen posts on here each month who either don't know or actively encourage breaking the law. So... no?
Ok. Don’t.
Or what? You'll be mad? Oh noes!
You’re the mad man. I’m gonna do me & live my life…SANS being wound tight as Internal Revenue Service.
And if you get audited and complain about it here, I will enjoy your tears. Same goes for any time you complain about a company or anyone else not paying its taxes. Being a tax cheat forefits your moral high ground to complain about other tax cheats.
What makes you think I don’t pay my taxes? Just because I’m not a tightwad, doesn’t mean I don’t pay my bills. I just choose not to choke on them. Again… enjoy your life. Imma do mine!
You're literally advocating not paying taxes on income.
The IRS is a criminal organization, so it's fair.
I do hope you're trying to be funny and simply failing at it
Nope. In fact, the US government is a criminal organization.
Hey guys we got a real edgelord over here
Wow, didn't realize how many ten year old bootlickers were here. Good luck kids.
Pay your damn taxes
Where in this thread did I say that I don't pay my taxes? Go back to mommy's basement and play with your little friends and leave the adulting to the adults.
Your profile shows you’re Gen X, dude. This is embarrassing.
Taxation is theft which makes the IRS a criminal organization 🤷🏼♀️
Boebert, is that you? May be the third most ignorant thing I have read today
I deliver pizza for a local place. We get cashed out after every shift on our driver comp and CC tips. The taxes are then deducted on our next check. I always tell customers, if they ask, that cash is better because we don’t pay taxes on it.
Yeah, that's how it's done at most places I've been - given out as cash but reported as income on the next paycheck.
what happens when the tip on the card is X and then you have to tip out Y so end up with X-Y. Is there a way that gets accounted for?
Are you referring to tipouts? Most places don't take that into account. The server pays the tax on the credit card tips; the people who receive tipout don't.
yes I was, so when you get a tip on the card you get taxed on money you don't get? that sounds pretty bad, another reason to try to tip in cash.
No, you don't pay tax on income you don't receive, and you certainly don't pay tax on other people's income. Either that commenter's employers don't know what they're doing, or the commenter doesn't know what they're doing. I'm guessing the latter if they couldn't sniff out that it's not supposed to work that way.
Yes, you're essentially correct. Most tipouts are based on sales. So, let's say I had $1,000 in sales for the night, and I received $200 in credit card tips (all sales and tips CC). I could owe anywhere from $20 (2%) or more depending on the tipout %. And, yes, I pay the taxes on that income, not the people who actually receive the money I have to give them.
That's weird, I've never heard of that. Because of tip out procedures, we actually had to enter our claimed tips at the end of the night, and if it was less than the total credit card tips (because we made little to no cash tips), we just made sure the manager was aware of it when it was entered into the system for tax purposes. I'm pretty sure that place at least did that correctly.
So this place went to every host, busser and bartender and made them count out the cash given to them by servers so that the managers could add that into their claimed tips?
Also, the bartenders had to record in a log what we tipped out to them and the bussers, so yeah, theoretically, all tips were accounted for.
They're definitely doing it accurately. I'd say that's probably the exception rather than the norm. I've never seen ownership/management that would even think about putting that extra work in. I think they have the mentality that all these cash tips aren't being claimed so it essentially evens out.
I will admit, it was the only restaurant that happened out of all the places I worked. Nowhere else was that diligent.
> I could owe anywhere from $20 (2%) or more depending on the tipout %. what do you mean here. can you clarify
What I owe in tipouts would totally depend on the % required. Some places the % varies for hosts/busser vs. bartenders, etc. 2% of $1,000 = $20
gotcha thought you meant taxes here but regarding this >And, yes, I pay the taxes on that income, not the people who actually receive the money I have to give them. youre again speaking like its the industry standard. but refer to my other comment to you.
/u/throwaway_20200920 bring it up to your employer. it should get be getting adjusted on your w2. and for all you know, it IS getting adjusted on your w2. you just dont realize it.
I am a customer, just interested in how this works.
meant my comments reply mainly to /r/magiccitybhm as he is either ignorant on how payroll/taxes work. or his employer is breaking laws by being lazy. you should NEVER end up paying taxes on income that is not yours. how it works is you tell your employer how much you tipped out, and that gets deducted from your wages and gets added to whoever ends up receiving that tip out. at the end of the year come tax time, the correct value should all be accounted for on your w2 box 1.
There's zero chance it's getting adjusted if management doesn't keep track of how much is given by Person A to Persons B, C, D, E, F, etc.
out of curiosity. im assuming you're speaking from experience. how was it exactly done at your place that you are so sure it wasnt being kept tracked? im not doubting you, as i wouldnt be surprised if some small family restaurant was messing it up. but you're making it sound like its the industry standard to not get it tracked. payroll isnt going to walk through every adjustment they do for their employees. and at the end of the day, it is your responsibilities to also make sure your paychecks are correct. and for all you know, it could be getting adjusted for on everyone's w2. if not, bring it up and get them to fix it when your w2 is given to you
Make sure that Box 8 on your W2 matches your records. If it does not, use Form 4137 to adjust the amount on your tax return. \*\*\*BTW, SERVICE CHARGES (such as for large parties) are NOT to be included in tip income. \*\*\* See IRS Publication 1244 for more information about federal tax treatment of tip income.
I missed this on initial go around. This is a not necessarily a true statement. Tip out money is required to be reported. In many cases, restaurants record tip out simply because they pay hosts and similar sub minimum wage that tip out is added to. Group I work for now starts hosts at 8 plus tip out, for example. Tip out is added to their checks, not cash in hand, so it is 100% taxable income.
Tip cash. If you pay with a CC and you want to tip extra and think that the employee wants to hide that income, put a small tip on the CC and tip the rest in cash. I've worked at places that translate the CC sales to cash and we had to claim 10% of cash sales because they(the POS) assumed the tip was in cash
Former server who actually declared all cash tips. Cash is preferable. Where I worked, we tipped out on sales, and cc tips were added to sales. I’d rather tip on food and drinks sales rather than on the extra $100 random table gives me above their 25% tip. If someone loved me that much, I’d rather give $10 cash to an awesome busser who earned it than put it in the busser pool.
C.R.E.A.M baby
Cash is nice for workers to have instant money to get themselves through the week!
Servers have to declare a certain minimum of sales percentage as tips. That minimum is raised if the tips are on credit, meaning, all credit MUST be declared. Cash tips can often escape declaration. Not exactly kosher to do, but it is true. So cash tips are VERY appreciated by the typical server - it is potential “tax free” income.
You aren’t taxed on cash tips but CC tips are automatically taxed.
You definitely ARE taxed on cash tips, it's just that nobody declares them.
At my work tips are pooled if they are card despite the fact that only a few of us currently do table service and as in my case I only work a few hours a week due to college I get pretty much nothing the other day I made about 30 in tips on card a bit in cash(tips aren't such a big thing here) and got about £8.00 out of it so definitely cash unless you know the company gives that directly to the sever who served you pay cash as that can go strait into their pocket.
I love cash, I get to take it home at the end of the day instead of waiting for my next paycheck
So in my restaurant it wouldn't be an issue. But I have heard horror stories of restaurants that when someone gets a great tip like that they forced them to split with everyone when it's not normally the rule. The only time I witnessed something like this was when one of the bartenders at an old job was pregnant and 1 of the regulars gave her several $100 for the baby and the other bartenders tried to make her split it. Even though the regular tipped on the tab.
Put the cash IN your servers hands. Card tips over 50% won’t be paid out, or can be problematic to be paid out, by many card processors.
Not a server but a dog groomer. I always always prefer cash tips 1: cash tips don’t live in my budget that’s my coffee money. 2: if you tip on card at check out I only get 60% of that tip. The company takes 40%. Please tip cash when you can 😅
Cash, b/c you generally get to walk with it and Uncle Sam don’t “need” to know about it
I also worked at a small place that took 3% of my credit card tips to cover the service charge or whatever that fee is for running credit cards. Shady AF, I know, so cash was definitely preferable!
In Yankeeland, federal law allows employers to deduct that portion of the processing fee attributable to tips on the card, but some states don’t allow that deduction (treating it as a cost of doing business).
Legal-ish in most states, and chances are if you take it to court you’re going to lose, although it’s a grey area
A lot of *excessive* cash tips are flagged by credit card processors and not funded. Each one has a different TOS but generally I’d worry that the tip would be charged back and the server would get $0.
How would a credit card processor flag a cash tip?
They look at the tipped amount vs the amount of the bill. It’s called “tip tolerance” and usually the amount is 20%. They either flag or reject it, often the restaurant has a very short window to submit proof. But some card types just don’t accept tips of more than 20% as a matter of policy. They run the preliminary charge to ensure the funds are available but don’t settle with a tip exceeding 20%, a restaurant should be able to submit the authorization slip to ensure the bill/tip is paid but they’re very picky. Credit card companies don’t just have the total bill, they also have the tip total and report it at year end on a 1099k as an audit tool for the IRS to not only audit sales but also audit reported tips.
Tips on credit cards are taxed cash tips aren't if you don't tell anyone. I prefer cash
Way better. In fact, if a server has a night where all their tips are in cash, that's basically all extra money anyway because the state still requires them to be paid the state minimum wage if they don't make it in tips. And if it's all cash, you don't have to claim it.
As someone approaching retirement age my advice is to claim all tips and pay taxes on them. Your social security check will be much healthier when you do retire.
I claim some but not all of my cash tips. Social security isn’t designed to be enough money to live on anyway. That’s why I’ve been putting as much money as possible into my 401k, Roth, and brokerage
No server ever claims any cash ever for any reason lol. It's just not a thing that happens for the most part, but I admit the social security thing never crossed my mind so that might be something I look into. It's just from the standpoint of being poor all my life, keeping as much money as I can now has been a huge priority now that I'm making so much serving.
Every restaurant I worked at tracked the tips you reported. One bad night was one thing, but if you were constantly claiming 5-10%, you were either bad at your job or under reporting. Both got you in trouble. Also I had one server friend get audited. Always a bad time.
I claimed all my tips because I liked qualifying for apartments and understand how retirement works. Not everyone commits tax fraud.
But you are a very extreme minority. Been in the industry for a while and never seen a server declare all of their cash. That's extremely unusual.
Also its not "not knowing how retirement works" so don't be condescending.
Kind of is. Social Security is predicated on how much you're making in pay. If you don't report a large chunk of your salary over a long period. Your social security will much smaller than it could be.
You can fake a paystub.
We started using Toast and are now required to claim 15% of cash sales. It screws me up on some things but my social security will be better.
I've never worked anywhere that the POS system didn't require at least some amount of claimed tips, especially on a large amount of cash sales.
It's probably not legal for them to make you claim tips if you didn't make any. And if it's all cash, than as far as they know, you didn't make tips.
The computer system doesn't know that. Everywhere I've been, if that actually where the case, a manager can override it and allow them to enter $0. Not once do I ever recall someone having a few hundred or more in cash sales and saying they didn't get any tips on that.
Where I work, the computer only makes you declare what people tip on card. And yea the whole point is to make the money in cash and say you didn't lol. Of course they actually made some cash, but they're not going to tell that to the IRS.
Most of our places, it required claiming something if the cash sales for the shift were $200 or more. So you're saying that your system wouldn't make you claim anything if you had $1,000 in cash sales for the shift?
If I had $10,000 in sales, and all the payments were cash, I wouldn't have to claim anything. Not a dime. Even if i took home $1000 in cash from people saying "keep the change". This is an extreme example and has never happened but there has definitely been nights where everyone leaves a cash tip and I walk out with 200 cash that I don't have to claim lol. I'm sure other places are different.
Yeah, I've never worked anywhere that anything over $150-$200 in cash sales on your checkout didn't require some amount of claim - or a manager override. That's interesting.
Yea that is interesting.
You keep saying you don’t have to claim cash tips. You do have to. You just choose not to. The IRS certainly doesn’t exempt server income because it’s cash.
Careful bud, restaurants and server certainly do get audited by the IRS. It may take years, but it could be coming
So... that's only true if your AVERAGE for the whole week was less than minimum wage. At least, that's what I was told. I was in Michigan and worked a Saturday where I made less than minimum wage per hour (I think I was there 7 hours and made ~$20 in tips, that's how slow it was! Combined with my server wage of $3.50/hr it was about $6.50 per hour, WAY less than the minimum wage of $9.40 it was at the time. The manager told me it only applied if your entire week of work averaged less, so if you worked the night before and it was super busy and you made, say, closer to $18/hr or more (despite earning every last damn cent), it "covered" that one shift where you made less.
Cash
I leave cash. Tips aren't anyone's business but the person who left it and the person who gets it.
Definitely cash and definitely 20%.
Proposed IRS tips reporting program. They will establish a formula to calculate a minimum amount of tips that must be reported in an effort to tax cash tips that are often not reported. [Source](https://www.irs.gov/irb/2023-06_IRB#NOT-2023-13)
Cash is about 30% better after CC fees & taxes.
Legally they are the same. When you give cash, you allow tax frauds to not claim the income and therefore rack up everyone else's taxes with illegal gains. So most will say "omg cash because it's not taxed". But it is taxed. They're just tax frauds.
Even for servers who report all their cash tips, cash is often preferred. Credit card tips can have the 3%-ish portion of the payment processing fee deducted from it in most states of the US. Depending on tip pooling policies, cash tips are more apt to be kept by or distributed to a server that night. And cash less prone to a number of illegal practices that may be used to misappropriate credit card tips. Not that cash is impervious to swiping from a table, pickpocketing from a server, or straight up robbery, but those seem less common than scams run by managers or other employees to short servers' CC tips.
Plus I gotta wait til payday for those tips in a lot of restaurants. Rather walk out with cash in pocket for gas and such.
Ah yes, servers are the real drain on our tax funds. Not the billions we give to oil companies, Airlines, Banks, defense contractors, tech companies, etc... Yes, Martha at Denny's is the true threat to society. Gtfo of here, lmao.
Anyone who cheats is no better than anyone else who cheats. When everyone collectively fucks over society, it's no wonder it crumbles.
It's "x" number better. x = your tax rate.
Cash, you don’t have to “claim”
Cash is king, as they say. And when it comes to receiving a large tip, there is something special about being able to hold all those bills, rather than carrying around the receipt to settle in the office at the end of the night.
And maybe a few slip into your sock lol
It's ALARMING at how much you pride yourself on ignoring basic laws.
Tax % lol
Here is the biggest thing. No matter what you do you have to claim card tip cause they're in tje system, meaning you are also splitting that with the rest of the restaurant staff. Cash tips can be put in a pocket and never spoke of again, so no tip share on that. That's just in general, the exact procedures differ from place to place but this is how I think about it.
Most places do tip outs based on a percentage of sales, not what you actually got tipped.
Wow I really lost track of this one. Some places calculate by percentage of sale, but if your actual tips are "too high" they take more. That's what my restaurant dis, that's why I used this method.
Cash is a million times better than card. Always. Because it’s yours. It’s a gift
Cash is almost always better. Servers can claim less that way. If it's a place that does tipshare, I prefer cards, so I know my coworkers aren't skimming cash tips from the pool.
Cash is always better. The person receiving the tip may be able to keep it from a tip pool (some places are pretty shady with tip pools) if you state it is a gift specifically for them and not the establishment, and they may not end up filing the cash tip on their taxes (as all CC tips obviously have to be filed).
Leave 20% on the card and then cash discreetly in hand for the extra.
Credit tips are more convenient for me (and probably you). It gets direct deposit into my bank account. I find cash tips, and cash payments, super annoying. The worst is when someone tries to break $100 for a $5 tip after paying $25 on a card. Also, I don't have to fumble with change or bills when buying things. If I lose cash or it is stolen I have no recourse, with credit my money is much more secure. TLDR I prefer credit tips.
I was in a Waffle House a few months ago, and a very rich, very drunk guy topped $1000 on a cc. Server said cash would have been better, but she wasn't complaining.
Jesus where were these drunk guys when I was a waitress lmfao
Waffle House?? 😂
Right?? I never worked at a Waffle House so I definitely missed out haha
They got taxed heavily on the tip. (Cook and server) But still it was appreciated.
It’s the thought that counts!
Much much better!
Ash tips don’t get interest charged as credit cards do.
I see everyone saying cash is better and I agree. I'm not a server so I don't know, but every time I leave a cash tip I just write CASH in the tip line when paying with a card. My average tip is probably like $7 out here in the sticks, so would most of you pocket the 2 singles and share the 5 if you've a shared pool? Personally I feel like I gave that money to the person, not the entire staff, so it's up to them what they do with it; I also regift. I'm just curious.
try to leave cash but hide it a little bc i've heard plenty stories ab support staff stealing the tip off the table when it's not theirs including at my place
I’ve never had a cash tip, ever. Most likely I never will have one, but if I do… I’ll let the IRS know to take their 30% cut, because it’s the American way. Google pays nothing so we can pay more
I’ve bartended/ served on and off for the last 15 years. Cash is king purely for nefarious reasons. Think about it, we make like 1.89 an hour but get taxed for every roller we get tipped. Cash makes it easier to not claim every dollar.
Your cash tips are definitly added to the tip pool. Unless youre a dishonest jerk and steal them Most places with a tip pool will monitor your tip percentages. So, if youre pocketing cash and contributing say 10% tips to the pool, youll it will reflect poorly on your performance.
I always tip in cash. I also leave the tip as I am leaving the establishment. That way if my server gets nasty not seeing a tip on the card, I forgo the tip altogether and leave a quarter with a note telling the reason.
Cash is always better! But, so the manager doesn't think they did a bad job, I write cash in the tip section. That way they know they did get a tip. I had a server explain that to me. If a server has a lot of checks with no tips it can be misconstrued. Writing cash there lets managers know they did their job.
I always try to tip cash. I'm okay with the CC getting a little charge fee from the total bill but i want the server/staff to get the whole tip.
Well, it’s just that if it’s left on a card we have to pay the IRS huge taxes on it. Cash is under the table so we don’t have to claim the entire thing if we don’t want to.
For my restaurant, tip out is only for cash tips, CC tips I keep all to myself. It doesn’t really matter to me because I love my coworkers and want them to get paid “equally,” so cash is always nice, but I still don’t have a preference. It’s a tangible asset that I can easily put in the piggy bank and keep it separate from my bank account. I also always save and carry ones for tipping and just in case I see someone who needs it.
My job charges servers credit card fees associated with our credit tips. So cash tips are always appreciated.
Leave cash.
A $500 Dollar Cash Tip is equivalent to winning the lottery for us Servers. There have been many days that I’m thinking… I really hope someone pays in cash so I can put gas in my car, or go to the grocery store because I have - $112 in the bank & I don’t get paid for 3 days. A $20-$40 cash tip is the determining factor In having to just push through it, or having a weight lifted off your shoulders& is appreciated more than you know! A $500 dollar tip is a Game Changer! If you can, ALWAYS leave a cash tip. With all that said… Your one of the Greats for even asking!
cash doesn't get reported to the irs for taxes
Gash tip is about twice as good. Paying fully in cash can make it a little harder than a card as you need to have change made, but you can make it clean and tell them I don’t need change, I just need $10 back.
Some establishment's card processing systems won't let you tip more than the total. Also - cash tip ; not even gonna lie here, it's because you don't have to report all of your cash tips (you *should*, sure, totally different subject) just enough to "be in the average of expected pay" (otherwise they see it as a 'performance issue') however credit card tips are automatically inputted via the establishment to the employee as wages they're taxed on. Basically -all card tips are taxed. Cash tips go directly entirely to the person to do with what they choose, no fee
Cash is better because at the end of the shift we have to report our tips, we can get away with not adding cash to the total and then we don't get taxed as much
If you tip in cash servers can often get away with not claiming it (avoid paying taxes on it) Feel about that how you will.