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Comment by Auracle | Hacker News Reader

At some restaurants you’d be worse off but those tips add up. Presuming you get 15% all you’d need to do is $100 served in an hour to catch up. Obviously there are fast and slow times but at a reasonably busy place you’re probably coming out ahead. Not to mention servers collect most of that tax free when they shouldn’t.

I heard a report on NPR a few weeks ago where they were lamenting how much servers make and we’re basing their data on reported income to the IRS. Hah.

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That may be true but things are very very unpredictable right now (and will be for a while).

People are not willing (apparently) to give up a sure-thing like high-paying fulfillment work or enhanced unemployment benefits in exchange for an unstable position like making $2/hr and hoping patrons throw money at them.

Restaurants have to pay $15-$20 an hour to have a consistent and reliable workforce in the current market.

>Not to mention servers collect most of that tax free when they shouldn’t.

I believe servers get taxed at a certain rate regardless of if they actually make the tip. It's assumed they will make $x in tips so they are taxed for $x regardless of if they made that or not. They get hosed on both sides (employers and government).

I worked in the restaurant industry for a decade. People like to point to waitstaff having it rough but on a typical night they take home considerably more than the back of the house as well as pay little to no tax on cash tips. There is no special tax that I'm aware of to prevent that tax evasion.

In an area where basic retail wages ~$10/hr with some experience, my no wife with no experience was netting $15-20+/hr after tips. This is despite her scumbag employer making her work an hour before and after service prepping and cleaning the dining area.

I was working 2x 20hr/week jobs and making less than her working a Fri/Sat/Sun..

Yup! My family owns a restaurant, and I can confirm this is true in my area (northeast US). My sister worked as a server for a summer (2017, or thereabouts), and averaged about $46 an hour. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it helped that she was young, attractive, and witty. When I served, I made about $30 per hour (not-unattractive male). Sex sells, as she used to quip- it's true, there's also a gender-based component to it.

Anyway, most of that in principle was cash tips. She was young enough where she was getting all of her tax back anyway, but I do know many people who underreport the tips they receive.

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