Will We Tip Less Now?

Will we tip less now that tipped workers can deduct their tip totals from their taxes? NBC News Radio National Correspondent joins us to discuss this controversial topic. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So here's the question, could you get away with tipping less?
This is West Michigan's Morning News, and our friend Rory O'Neil,
NBC News Radio National correspondent is back on the lifeline. Rory,
thanks for doing this today.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hey, there's Steve. Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
So if this budget bill has mostly done away with
taxes on gratuity, you know what I'm talking about. I
like to save a lot money too, is it will
there be a trend of folks giving a little less?

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Well, that was the question posed by the food critic
at the Washington Post. I saw that online and it
started quite the discussion. But yeah, it's a good question.
If my dollar, if the dollars plural, I tip go
further for the server, Well, because now they're deductible, do
I have to tip as much. There's really no answer

(00:50):
to this question, by the way, but it is something
that you wonder if there will be more of a
trend a pushback the next time someone is sort of
unhappy with their service, saying well, you're getting more of
this money than I am.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Where I have to pay taxes on what I earn.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
You know, people could be jerks at restaurants, but it's
a great topic of conversation.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Listen, this is West Michigan.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
We're known for being a little tight, and people are
going to figure this thing out. And if they're an
automatic twenty, I wonder if they're going to fifteen.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, right, And then our servers getting concerned about this
as well.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
And remember it's like tips up to it's pretty confusing.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
It's like tips up to twenty five thousand dollars, but
then you'd have to itemize, and you know how many
servers do you know are itemizing if they're like a
twenty two year old waitress, I don't know how many
people will actually be taking advantage of this deal. And
then you don't know what their partner's spouse, whatever they
may be earning, and what their household finances are.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
So it gets pretty complicated.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
So for the most part, the response is in the
post critics post where that people are going to pretty
much tip the same that they figure that most of
these servers are pretty hard workers. That in a lot
of restaurants, especially when you tip on your credit card,
it's a complicated formula of the boss gets the money,
then it's distributed and the dishwasher gets some the chef

(02:10):
gets some.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
The person who does that the go orders get some.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
So a lot of these tips are now being pulled
and distributed in ways that are really complex.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
So that's the other advice is just tip your server
in cash.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
Well, And that's the thing, Rory, that I was wondering
is how many people are doing that now? How much
pushback was there just because everyone was asking for a
tip and still is there for a while.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
Well, right, And I think that's the other frustration that
you know, Why isn't I go to the convenience store,
I get a bottle of water, walk it up to
the counter, pay the clerk, and I'm being asked how
much I should.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
Tip the clerk?

Speaker 1 (02:41):
Right?

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Wait, what a minute? Why am I being that screen
that they flip around?

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Has really been making a lot of Americans angry about
just how much our tipping culture has changed ever since
the change cup, you know, take a penny, leave a
penny started all this decades ago.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
That is Rory O'Neil is Radio National correspondent.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Thank you, Thanks Steve