Originally Posted by
rofly
Yes, the amount was made very clear on the W2 but I'm not sure if it was listed separately under tips. It was certainly listed as some sort of income so I felt confident the IRS didn't expect me to list anything additional. Although I earned more in tips, there was no way the IRS could prove it since much of it was in cash, unless they shadowed me at work for a few days...
I'm absolutely astonished that this practice is legal. I'm guessing that it is because your tips are underestimated like you said above, why would you or anyone else complain about this practice?
If the average estimate of tips
were actually more than what people take home and there were enough people penalized by such an overestimation, I would guess that trial lawyers would come around to suing the federal, state and local gov'ts for taxing on income never actually earned but rather "estimated" to be earned thus overtaxing people.
Thank you for sharing this.