IRS is cracking down on tips – again. Why go after billionaires when you can squeeze more out of ...

[marmar]

One more reason it's crap to be a waiter in America
The IRS is cracking down on tips – again. Why go after billionaires when you can squeeze more out of servers?

Heather Long
theguardian.com, Sunday 8 September 2013 08.30 EDT


America's waiters and waitresses can't seem to get a break. Not only do they make a mere $2 to $5 an hour base salary in most places, now the tax man wants to make their lives more miserable.

Yes, the IRS is worried that people who typically make about $20,000 a year aren't paying enough in taxes. Why go after millionaires and billionaires when you can squeeze more out of servers?

In a new rule set to take effect in January, restaurants that charge an "automatic tip" have to treat that amount like a wage, not a tip.

This might sound like technical mumbo jumbo that only accountants and tax lawyers care about, but it's a big deal for American waiters, especially the ones who tend to work at low-end and mid-tier restaurants like Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse and Applebee's. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/08/irs-tax-waiter-tips-automatic-gratuities

[CanonRay]

1. They once came after my mother, a waitress, for $90 we didn't have

I've never forgotten that in over 40 years.

[quinnox]

2. Glad the IRS has its priorities in order. How dare those waiters try and make a

living wage, or more money than poverty level!

[jsr]

3. Because waiters and waitresses don't have lobbyists on K Street

[Baitball Blogger]

7. kick

[Brigid]

8. ^^This^^

Our thread winner.

[historylovr]

4. K & R

[City Lights]

5. Disgusting! nt

[Brigid]

6. Low-hanging fruit.

Go after powerless people for small amounts that aren't worth hiring a lawyer to fight because the lawyer would cost more anyway. Great extortion scam

[Gormy Cuss]

9. Why go after billionaires with their lawyers when one can go after smaller entitities?

Honestly, it's time that we have a national rule that servers must be paid at least the Federal minimum wage. Then maybe we can cut out a lot of the tipping nonsense. Tips should be a small portion of income, not the bulk of it.

[mopinko]

10. irs has a rule that if it will cost more than they will get, they don't bother.

most of the 1% doesn't even have to worry about an audit.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

15. Is this in the Regs? The Audit Manual? Or did you just make up this "rule"?

If the IRS wants to make a point, they'll go after a person.

[mopinko]

21. the lawyers who specialize in this know how to drag them down.

i heard it on npr. marketplace (think?) did a big report on how rich people avoid taxes. the bottom line is they hire the guys who know how to release paper barrages and tie them in knots.

take it for what it is worth.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

22. So there is no such rule.

[TheDebbieDee]

31. Yes, the IRS does bother...........

They bother, very publicly. Mostly to scare the hell out of others who are doing the same - to make them think twice about continuing to do it!

[dsc]

11. the Guardian gets a lot of crap at DU but this was a great piece of journalism

My initial response to the headline only was what is the big deal. Then the article clearly explained why this was a big deal. Very nicely done.

[blkmusclmachine]

12. Go after the puny little guy, while the TBTF's scam you left and right in broad daylight.

DC is a racket.

[adirondacker]

13. We are reaching new lows in this country. The rest of the world is Laughing their asses off. nt

[L0oniX]

14. Well someone needs money for war. n/t

[Rain Mcloud]

16. I guess the Sequestration is not doing enough damage in the War On The Poor?

And.........(sigh)They have the balls to wonder why people give up or step in front of a train.
If there is no incentive,why bother.

I worked my ass of for 35 years,been comfortable a few times,tried for that holy brass ring,got sheared like a sheep,got ulcers from stress
of keeping the pocket empire spinning,then i said:Fuck it!

Today,i am a humble custodian but still have 13 years to go before retirement.
I need a knee replacement(ACL and Meniscus torn),have spinal stenosis and arthritis on top of carpal tunnel syndrome.
Yeah,some retirement.
I wonder if Medic-aid will buy me a hot tub?

I have an IQ of 134 and busted my ass every day,where am i?
The Soviet Republic of Russia?
The Neo-conservatives and the Neo-liberals can go fuck themselves!
This is why i can't get behind,Hillary.
I love her and Bill,but,NO.

[DJ13]

26. +1

I know its not easy, but hang in there.

[n2doc]

17. Going after the poor means they are more likely to vote for tax cuts

After all, if the IRS is seen as the bad guy to those who might benefit from Government programs, those same people are more likely to swallow the t-bagger's bile about 'taxes being too high'. The rich need the poor person's vote.

The Rich also fight back against IRS audits, or even the threat of them. See the recent crap about preferentially going after T-bagger groups.

[ctsnowman]

18. Nailed it.

[YoungDemCA]

25. Well said.

[Lee-Lee]

29. This crap gives teabaggers false legitimacy

For most of these servers the concept of being taxed too much or the IRS being an oppressive monster or whatever such nonsense was either dismissed out of hand for the nonsense it was or such an abstract idea that didn't touch thier life that they never paid attention.

Now this move gives that rhetoric a veneer of false legitimacy.

[marble falls]

19. I've retired from the industry this week. Between owners, the public and the IRS .....

I've had enough.

[Savannahmann]

20. It's not hard to figure out.

The reason that the ultra rich don't get audited or even more than a cursory glance is that people are judged in their annual evals on how many wins they have.

Look let's be honest for a moment. When you or I get audited, we show up with a shoe box full of receipts praying that we don't get raped too bad by the IRS.

When the aforementioned rich guy shows up? Well first he doesn't show up personally. A gaggle of lawyers, accountants, and former IRS agents show up.

IRS agent says. "I see you violated rule 23, b, 4. So this deduction is going to be excluded.

We say. "What is rule whatever that is? Turbo Tax said it was a good deduction sir."

The rich guy's legal team. "I think you will find that rule 23, b, 4 is authorized if you meet the standards of section 23, f, 9. Which is the case."

The rich guy spends more than we make on accountants and lawyers who go and have the meeting with the IRS. The former agents know the loopholes and standards better than the guy doing the audit. In the end, we get handed the IRS Form Gotcha that tells us we owe a ton of money. The Rich guy gets handed a form that says he is owed an additional four hundred bucks by the Government.

Now, you get judged by your superiors on how many wins you have, so which are you going to choose? The no brainer there is that you are not going to rush into the chance to get your solo ass kicked by a squad of Harvard Legal Talent and accountants led by a guy who trained the guy who trained you. You're going to go after the person who doesn't know what the law is so you can get a win and get the promotion you hope to have, after all the wife is telling you that you need the promotion so you can go on a cruise before the little one comes etc. Why risk it by walking into fight you know you can't win?

Common sense. The rich have the best lawyers. Bernie Madoff has numerous alerts filed about him, but nobody wanted to take the chance that they would get their ass kicked in a review. They wanted to keep their jobs, and going up against an army of lawyers is not a good way to put a check in the win column.

[JHB]

27. Bingo!

[forestpath]

23. I'd expect nothing less from the Obama administration.

[PlanetaryOrbit]

24. I wish the practice of tipping would go away altogether.

All restaurants should be required to pay all employees at least minimum wage. Period. No exceptions.


Make it simple.

[gopiscrap]

28. That's it

go after those who can't fight back

[indepat]

30. And yet Uncle Sam plays like the mfin' ordinary income of some billionaire hedge fund mangers

is capital gains and thereby taxed at a rate just a little greater than that poor schmuck server is payroll-taxed. What an effed up effin' RE society the Congress has created.

[jmowreader]

32. Two points

One is that it's a bitch to go after billionaires because billionaires, like Fred Phelps, know exactly how far they can go without getting in trouble and they go exactly that far.

The other is, as much as we like to believe that low-wage people are valiant and would never do anything wrong, there is significant tax evasion in industries where people are paid in cash.

[Marie Marie]

33. Maybe the IRS would leave these people alone if they

would hide their tips in offshore accounts. What, you say that they need this money to live on? Well then, I guess they are screwed - as usual.

[Nevernose]

34. The lack of tips is one of the things I love about Europe

The price is the price, and the waitstaff is assumed to be paid enough to live on. And there's no sales tax added on afterwards, because it's included in the price.

Chain restaurants really need to unionize.