A
Amaris
Guest
I follow my own little tipping law. For me, it's $5 for myself, and $2 for each additional friend with me, regardless of whether they are tipping or not.
Why should i pay $14 to enter the US?
- Thread starter nacelle
- Start date
Hearing "Like a Virgin" will never be the same afterwards?
Then problem solved. Servers won't have to work for you for little pay and you don't have to tip them.
They get paid a straight wage. I've always thought they should share in the tip too, which would give them an incentive to get the order right, since many patrons will tip poorly because of something to do with the food. Then again, their job is really hard, so I don't blame them for wanting a guaranteed wage.
My view is to start at 20%. It's perfectly reasonable to give less, but you need to be able to articulate a reason. If you give less than 15%, it should be for reasons worth pointing out to a manager. Depending on how bad the service is, drop it down as far down as is proportionate. If their service was next to nothing, pay them next to nothing.
Well, somehow it's managed for the majority of people in the UK. PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is pretty easy to understand. Anything up to £7475 you pay no tax on; £7475-35K you pay %20; £35K-150K you pay %40 and anything above £150K you're taxed %50. Easy peasy.
I bet alot of people make 34,999.
First you want to take away my tips. Now you want to take away my tax refund?!
The only reason you get a refund at one point in the year is overpaying your tax in the rest. Personally I'd rather have the money in my pocket during the rest of the year - not like the IRS pays you interest!
I know why I get a refund. If I had that money in my pocket during the year, I would squander it. If I get a large lump sum back once a year (this year I got $1,500), I am able to use it for something more worthwhile. I know it's already my money, but it feels like a gift!First you want to take away my tips. Now you want to take away my tax refund?!
The only reason you get a refund at one point in the year is overpaying your tax in the rest. Personally I'd rather have the money in my pocket during the rest of the year - not like the IRS pays you interest!
I'm ok with letting the government use my money interest free since in the meantime I get things like police protection, fire departments, road work, etc.
And speaking my piece on the tips thing...maybe this will help some people understand the situation. In America, a server is essentially running their own business providing service. The restaurant provides the space and only asks that you pay for the product they sell. The server is the one handling the service portion of the experience and is thus a separate entity that needs to be paid for what they provide. If you don't tip, you're essentially stealing, the same as if you didn't pay for the food.
That never really worked out for me. Glad I'm (mostly) free of it. Doing my American taxes only takes about 30min. totalling the numbers on my payslips and then using some arbitrary conversion rate before putting a bunch of zeroes on the form, but it's the principle of it.
I don't work for an American company, I don't have enough paid into Social Security that I'll ever apply for it and I'm not moving back to the States, so it's really no business of the IRS how much I'm earning. If I ever won the lottery (which, like most countries is tax-free in the UK) there's no way I'd declare it.
I assume this statement is in jest because on the face of it, it's ridiculous.
Last time I checked, servers were not independent contractors and were very much employed by the restaurant--not the customer.
I am generally in agreeance with the pro-tippers who have spoken up in this thread, and tip very well myself. But this assessment is a bit much.
It's not always ridiculous.
I have to tip out 2% of my sales to the bussers and hosts. If your table orders $100 worth of stuff, I have to pay $2. So if you don't tip me, I essentially lost money by waiting on you.
The fact is, given the realities of the situation (in America at least) the term tip/gratuity is a misnomer. It implies the waiter is already being paid their "full" amount and the tip really is a "bonus" of sorts for excellent service, when, as discussed, that really isn't the case.
Perhaps restaurants should include a standard gratuity by default and customers can add onto it as they feel is appropriate.
Perhaps restaurants should include a standard gratuity by default and customers can add onto it as they feel is appropriate.
Your bill at the end of a meal includes only the price of the food and drinks, which have a markup that helps cover the cost of preparation, as well as to help the company turn a profit. Even though the restaurant employs the server, not much of the mark up trickles down to the server, as evidenced by the $2-$3 per hour wage...which is certainly not a living wage. Does that not make it obvious that the restaurant expects the customer to pay for the service provided? I'm not sure how looking at it this way is so ridiculous.
And I'm pretty sure, given the way restaurants and the laws surrounding the situation are set up, the term "gratuity" is a bit of a misnomer.
And I'm pretty sure, given the way restaurants and the laws surrounding the situation are set up, the term "gratuity" is a bit of a misnomer.
I admit, before reading the various threads we've had on the issue of tipping, it would never have occurred to me that the US has a system where servers get paid a lower level of minimum wage because they should expect to get tips.
Like DonIago says that isn't a tip, it's paying the server's wage to them directly. And that's a different moral calculation entirely.
Like DonIago says that isn't a tip, it's paying the server's wage to them directly. And that's a different moral calculation entirely.
