>>But it does hit the tax roles. They have to pay an estimated tip tax on their receipts. The IRS takes it whether they receive it, or not.<<
If, by some chance, they are over the amount that is taxed anyway, mine won’t be included.
My nephew delivers pizza as a second job to support his wife and four kids. He told me to tip in cash so I do.
Cash is fine. Just don’t think that it relieves them of the obligation of paying tax. Their tax estimates may be “loose”, but if the IRS wants to get stinky, they will.
We eat out a lot, and we always tip. Some of our favorite waitresses have been doing this for years, and they confide that they make good money. I knew one who worked in a bank days, and nights and weekends in a restaurant. She had 5 kids, a husband who did nothing, & a barn full of horses. She worked in the restaurant to support the horses and always said she made better money there than at the bank. Her basic wage at the restaurant was $2.75/hr, but she always took home more than $100 a night in tips.