The worker in the clothing store pays taxes and when she can afford it goes out to eat on a Friday night and is expected to tip the waitress who lives tax free?
He’s no dummy is he? He’s got the rats on the run. What about no taxes on SSI income? That’s for the gummers and cottonseeds.
Tax free? They are paid a salary. The salary is reported to the IRS.
They don’t report as much of their tips as income anyway.
The waitress typically makes less in documented hourly wages.
Tips being a variable wage amount from 0 to generally 20%. A tip is not a wage. It is a gift from the consumer for performing an exceptional job.
The minimum hourly wage for tipped workers in Ohio is $5.25 in 2024. The employee must make enough in tips to meet regular minimum wage or the employer must compensate them or more likely the employer will terminate them.
The clothing store clerk here will make close to 15 per hour, plus commissions in many cases. Commissions are not tips as commissions come from the employer.
So technically one is wages and the other is a gift from the consumer.
Sales tax on food needs to be eliminated it hurts seniors, families with kids, and low-income who don’t get SNAP. TN is a no-state income tax state, it uses sales taxes. And a city/county can add their sales tax. Fees into state/federal parks. A fee is a Tax we already paid to build and maintain that park. I can avoid that, not food. If I buy animal feed I pay the same sales tax.