(WXYZ) — Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris agree that there shouldn't be taxes on tips, but others are speaking out saying we should think about that policy.
It's been 10 years since Vanessa Johnson started working as a server.
“I’ve been serving since I got out of high school. I just like being able to provide good service," Johnson said.
While she loves what she does, Johnson could do without money being taken out of her primary income – tips.
"That would be so much better for us. It would help us not to have to keep up with everything throughout the whole year, and it would just help us to make more money because we’re not really seeing that hourly," Johnson said.
Both candidates for president are vowing to get rid of federal taxes on tips if elected. It's great news for Johnson, and also for Nasser Baydoun, the owner of District 12 Restaurant.
“I think tax-free tips is a great idea," Beydoun said. "The added hardships of figuring out your taxes and holding back your taxes and it’s a burden on the employee as well as the owner."
Tony, the co-owner of Whisper Restaurant that's coming to Dearborn later this year, shares similar feelings.
“It would definitely help a lot of people out. Especially people who work in this business," Tony said.
“Their tips is what they work for, so no, I don’t think that they should have to pay any taxes for your servers for any type of massage thereapy, nail techs," Carol Shaul added.
According to a Yale University study, only about 2.5% of all employees get tips and a small percent of that number actually owe federal taxes. That leaves some economists with concerns about real impact.
“Whether or not we tax them on their tips is not going to be affecting their bottom line, and it's not going to be affecting the tax payers bottom line either. But what it might affect it is how employers treat these employees," Shooshan Danagoulian, an associate professor of economics at Wayne State University, said.
Danagoulian worries that the policy may impact wage growth for tipped workers.
“The picture hasn’t changed much, and yet, because of this tax change, there is the potential for employers to not give their employees raises because they can argue the tax break is a raise," Danagoulian said.
With the policy needing congressional approval, it may not end up happening, no matter who is elected.
“We’ll see. We’ll see how it goes and if they’ll hold their end of the bargain," Tony said.
