Speaking as someone who worked in the restaurant biz for years nobody has been reporting all of their tips until recent years anyway. Before society became mostly cashless while tipped employees had no choice but to report 100% of credit card tips overall procedure was that as long as you reported 8% of your sales in tips you were good to go, though most would round that figure up to 10%. As most people tip at least 15-20% of their check total (many much more) that means underpayment of taxes in a big way. In my younger years it was normal to bring home $350-500 in cash only tips on a Friday night back when that was enough money to pay my rent, utilities, gas and groceries for a whole month.
Nowadays it's not really worth the headache. Most people pay and tip with card so it all gets reported and taxed. At the end of the week instead of getting a paycheck the servers end up owing money for taxes on their tips. That's probably why restaurants can't keep enough servers to offer a full menu as server wages are still barely over $2 per hour in most of the country. Not taking taxes might help the situation but I feel like we are probably too far gone at this point. Add to that consumer "tip fatigue" due to everybody- even electronics at self-serve counters- having their hands out and prices rising every day on top of that and more and more people are opting to just stay home.
Nowadays it's not really worth the headache. Most people pay and tip with card so it all gets reported and taxed. At the end of the week instead of getting a paycheck the servers end up owing money for taxes on their tips. That's probably why restaurants can't keep enough servers to offer a full menu as server wages are still barely over $2 per hour in most of the country. Not taking taxes might help the situation but I feel like we are probably too far gone at this point. Add to that consumer "tip fatigue" due to everybody- even electronics at self-serve counters- having their hands out and prices rising every day on top of that and more and more people are opting to just stay home.
As an American it's your responsibility to have your own strategic duck stockpile. You can't expect the government to do it for you.
![[Image: m6Lj0Pf.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/m6Lj0Pf.jpg)