Are the tips that a sever has to tip out to support staff (bussers, bartenders, etc) tax deductible?
You have apparently blown it. You report the tipouts when you report your tips to your employer. That way everything is properly reported on *all* of the W-2s. There is no other way to do this. The IRS will not allow you to deduct the tipouts because they have no way to attach them to the tax return of the support staff. Here’s the official IRS info: 4.12 Interest/Dividends/Other Types of Income: Tips Of my allocated tips, I tip-out 15% to the busboy and 5% to the bar. Where do I deduct this on my tax return? You cannot deduct tip-outs (the tips you split with other employees) on your tax return. Nor can you deduct them from your allocated tips. The practice of tipping-out is one of the reasons you should keep a detailed daily log of your tips. If you documented that you tip-out, and you reported all your tips to your employer, then you do not include in your income the allocated tips in box 8 of Form W-2 (PDF). Tipping-out, by itself, should not cause an allocated tip situation. First
