Former President Donald Trump pledged during a recent campaign stop in Las Vegas to exempt service worker gratuities from the federal income tax — an idea that many Trump supporters took to advertising by posting social media images of messages like "Vote Trump 2024 For No Tax On Tips!" written on their restaurant receipts.
When Larry Kudlow on Fox Business asked about the policy, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) appeared not to quite understand the proposal, even as he lauded Trump for coming up with it.
"I think that's awesome," said Tuberville. "We've all tipped before."
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Commenters on social media had a field day with the remark.
"People who tip aren’t the ones getting the tax break, Tubesocks," wrote @ArtCandee.
"We’ve all tipped before? I bet Coach Tuberville has been getting his meals comped for that last 30 years," wrote @DanDcgrandview.
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"He just wants a reason to spend less of his money on tipping people, that’s all," wrote @franklinisbored.
"Another promise, just like the never-ending infrastructure week and reforming healthcare promises etc…that Donald Trump will never follow through with!" wrote @UrbanistaRamon.
The former president is likely hoping that a pledge to end taxation on tips will improve his support among service workers, a critical voting bloc in states like Nevada. However, the Culinary Union, a critically important organizing force in that state, has come out against his proposal as unserious.
Moreover, the proposal presents serious problems. In addition to blowing an estimated $250 billion hole in the 10-year federal deficit, tax policy expert Howard Gleckman explained in Forbes that very little of the money would go to low-income people.
"Tax-free tips might help a relatively small number of waiters at high-end restaurants. And they could reward hotel owners such as Trump by slowing efforts to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers. But many tipped workers make so little income that they already pay little or no income tax," wrote Gleckman. "Trump’s idea also would create many new opportunities to game the tax system, which inevitably would result in new IRS regulations aimed at curbing tax avoidance."
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