Donald Trump at Church Roundtable Event in Michigan: ‘We Are Not Going to Tax Tips’

During a roundtable event in Michigan at an African-American church, former President Donald Trump once again promised that his administration was “not going to tax tips.”

While speaking to a restaurant owner during the roundtable event at 180 Church in Detroit on Saturday, Trump stated that if elected his administration was “not going to tax tips” for people such as waiters, waitresses, or car attendants who make tips.

“Tell your waiters and waitresses, and anybody else getting tips, ’cause they’re… a lot of people get tips,” Trump said. “Car attendants and caddies, and a lot of different people get tips. We are not going to tax tips – the tax immediately is coming off.”

“The government under Biden just passed new regulations to really go after these people,” Trump added. “And, they’re at a level like nobody’s ever seen. It’s like jail time stuff, to go after your waiters and your waitresses and other people getting tips.”

During a recent rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, the former president had vowed that his administration would “not charge taxes on tips.”

Trump’s promise to not tax tips has started a trend of people writing, “A vote 4 Trump is a vote 4 no tax on tips,” on their receipts from restaurants and other places where people earn tips.

The former president went on to speak at Turning Point Action’s “People’s Convention” where he again vowed to “eliminate taxes on tips.”

“I have announced that I will eliminate taxes on tips for restaurant workers and hospitality workers, and anyone else relying on tips,” Trump told the crowd. “No more taxes on tips! No taxes on tips! None, none.”

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) describes tips as being, “discretionary (optional or extra) payments determined by a customer that employees receive from customers.”

Employees earning tips can receive them in the form of cash, “through electronic settlement or payment,” like a credit, debit, or gift card, or “through tip pools, tip splitting, or other former/informal tip sharing arrangement,” according to the IRS’s website.

According to the IRS, “all cash and non-cash tips” that are received by an employee are “income and are subject to Federal income taxes.”

“If the total tips received by the employee during a single calendar month by a single employer are less than $20, then these tips are not required to be reported and taxes are not required to be withheld,” the IRS website states. “Cash tips include tips received from customers, charged tips (for example, credit and debit card charges) distributed to the employee by the employee’s employer and tips received from other employees under any tip-sharing arrangement. Tips also include tips received by both directly and indirectly tipped employees.”