Vice President Kamala Harris appears to be “adopting”—some would even say stealing—one of former President Donald Trump’s key campaign promises, according to a side-by-side video that was shared on social media over the weekend.
In the video, Trump is seen telling an audience that he intends to advocate for the elimination of tip taxes, a proposal that is becoming more and more popular among employees in the service industry who mostly depend on tips for their livelihood. Following Trump’s presentation, Harris essentially restates the same assertion.
The video shows that while Harris promised to remove tip taxes during her rally in Vegas on Saturday, Trump made his claim on June 9 during a stump speech.
— James Blair (@JamesBlairUSA) August 11, 2024
During her three and a half years as Vice President Joe Biden’s deputy, Senator Kamala Harris has never once brought up the subject of doing away with taxes on tips received by service workers. This has drawn harsh criticism from the internet, with the hashtag #CopyCatKamala trending on the X platform.
Who really believes Harris will do this??
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) August 11, 2024
Great Trump idea!!!!
No Tax On Tips!
Let’s get it trending! #CopyCatKamala— Tracy (@TracyhvFun) August 11, 2024
For three years as Vice President. She did nothing to help out the working men and women but raise taxes on tips. Now she wants to copy President Trump and steal his idea.. you have a record Kamala and we’re watching this time!! You will be held accountable
— Michael J. McDonald (@McDonaldNV) August 11, 2024
— vincent (@vincentken98254) August 11, 2024
Thought his ideas were "weird?"#CopycatKamala
— Bryan Dewar (@SoonerMagic18) August 11, 2024
“So, this is the first time I’ve said this. And, for those hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy,” Trump announced during his Vegas rally. “Because when I get to the office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips—people making tips.”
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website defines tips as “discretionary (optional or extra) payments determined by a customer that employees receive from customers.”
Employees may receive cash compensation, payment by credit or debit card, tip splitting, or “tip amounts received from other employees paid out through tip pools.”
According to the IRS, an employee’s “all cash and non-cash tips” are “income and are subject to Federal income taxes”:
All cash and non-cash tips received by an employee are income and subject to federal income taxes. All cash tips received by an employee in any calendar month are subject to social security and Medicare taxes and must be reported to the employer. If the total tips received by the employee during a single calendar month by a single employer are less than $20, then these tips are not required to be reported, and taxes are not required to be withheld. Cash tips include tips received from customers, charged tips (for example, credit and debit card charges) distributed to the employee by the employee’s employers, and tips received from other employees under any tip-sharing arrangement. Tips also include tips received by both directly and indirectly tipped employees.
At the rally, Trump insisted that under his administration, “We’re not going to do it. And, we’re going to do that right away, first thing in the office. Because it’s been a point of contention for years and years and years, and you do a great job of service, you take care of people.”
Trump said that his government would not be “going after” those who “have jobs in restaurants” where they get tips about their taxes.
