Congresswoman Lee Joins Nevada Lawmakers’ Call for Trump Administration to Address Shortcomings of ‘No Tax on Tips,’ Pushes for Permanent Solution
LAS VEGAS, NV – Today, Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-03) joined Nevada Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen and Representatives Dina Titus (NV-01) and Steven Horsford (NV-04) in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary and Acting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Scott Bessent. In their letter, Congresswoman Lee and the lawmakers explained that the version of ‘No Tax on Tips’ passed by Republicans in Washington does not fully meet the needs of Nevadans. While they continue to fight for a permanent solution, the lawmakers called on the Trump Administration to address barriers in implementation of the current provisions that would hurt tipped workers in Nevada.
“As you know, Nevadans rely on tips more than any other state in the nation and tax relief has been a critical bipartisan priority,” wrote the Members. “Given our work on [No Tax on Tips], we would like to highlight the following issues for the Department of Treasury in order to ensure the successful implementation of this provision for our constituents and tipped workers across the country.”
Specifically, the Members call on the administration to:
- Ensure taxpayers can take advantage of the deduction for tipped income this year
- Maintain Gaming Industry Tip Compliance Agreements (GITCA) and related programs
- Provide the ability for employees under a GITCA to take the tips deduction based on their tip rate if they choose
- Ensure that tips from transactions with auto-gratuities or suggested tip amounts are eligible
- Allow married individuals who file with a Social Security Number (SSN) on a joint return to be eligible for the deduction, regardless of the filing method of their spouse and allow up to $50,000 in deductions for married couples
- Provide maximum clarity for filers regarding how to determine what occupation they serve in and how to determine eligibility for the deduction
- Issue regulations that allow performing artists to use the deduction when their occupation otherwise has traditionally received tips
“As lawmakers representing our nation’s most hospitality and service industry dependent economy, we hope to maintain a productive dialogue with Treasury and IRS as your agencies work to implement this provision. Please do not hesitate to reach out if we can be of assistance, and we look forward to your response,” the Members concluded.
Read the full letter here.
Congresswoman Lee cosponsors the TIPS Act, a bill that would permanently end income taxes on tips and eliminate the subminimum wage while ensuring the ultra-wealthy can’t use this as a loophole to avoid paying taxes.
She is working to lower costs and keep more money in southern Nevadans’ pockets. Lee helped pass a bipartisan tax package that made significant progress to expand the Child Tax Credit and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and has fought to increase the minimum wage since her first days in Congress. She also helped pass legislation capping the cost of insulin at $35/month and annual drug costs at $2,000 for seniors.
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