LETTER: Tips aren’t the same as a salary or hourly wage

Syd Rabin’s letter states that enacting “no tax on tips” would dishonor his friends who were harassed by the IRS regarding their tipped income. I offer sincere condolences to Mr. Rabin and those who knew his friends.

First, what happened would seem to be a good reason to eliminate the tax on tips (along with enacting IRS reform). But Mr. Rabin’s main beef is that tipped workers would have an unfair advantage, tax-wise, over untipped workers that is inherently disrespectful of non-tipped workers.

But to me, tip income is different than a salary or hourly wage that is set and provided by an employer. Tips can vary greatly and are given according to the good graces of the recipients of our labor, according to long-standing custom. Also, if you do a crappy job, you will not earn very much.

In my 20s (with a college degree), I worked several part-time jobs to fund my part-time business that paid me nothing. I was ecstatic to get a job as a cocktail waitress where I could earn more in fewer hours — not as part of a paycheck but mostly in cash (and pre-taxes on tips). Some made this job their career, whereas others such as I used it as a stepping-stone.

In this great country we are blessed to have a wide variety of work options, all of which have their advantages and disadvantages according to one’s taste.