No tax on tips is hogwash
Although the “no tax on tips” policy is popular with Democrats and Republicans, it makes no sense. It’s a poor substitute for reducing taxes on ALL low-wage earners. Why would we exempt from taxes the tip portion of $80,000 of earnings of servers at a high end restaurant but tax all $40,000 of earnings of a cashier at a hardware store? If a bartender makes $50,000 by taking in $15,000 in tips and $35,000 in hourly pay, why would they pay less tax than a warehouse worker who also earned $50,000? Both of them need to pay rent, buy food and heat their home. This “no tax on tips policy” applies to earnings all the way up to $150,000.
I am not suggesting that we tax the server or bartender more. I am suggesting we tax other workers less. Apply taxes, only less of them, equally on all of these workers who need more income. Don’t limit the benefits of lower taxes to only certain types of jobs. How would we pay for lower taxes for all workers who need a boost? For starters, not spending $1.5 TRILLION for our military budget next year, as President Trump proposes. That will break our budget and drive the deficit through the roof. The U.S. already has a higher military budget than the next nine countries combined. And that was before the proposed 50% increase in the U.S. military budget for next year.