The Federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 per hour since 2009, but 24 states and many cities, counties and locals have set increases effective January 1st, 2026, and a few effective during 2026. The state with the highest minimum wage is D.C. (yes, I know D.C. is not a state, but in any payroll system, D.C. is selected in the state field) at $17.95 an hour, and a number of cities within Washington state are well above $20.00 per hour. Back in the “old days” of 2012, we heard of the “Fight for $15.00” movement, and looking at the…
Posts published in “Tipped Employees”
The IRS has recently published Guidance for Individual Taxpayers who received Qualified Tips or Qualified Overtime Compensation in 2025, Notice 2025-69, which provides direction and examples on how individuals will be able to calculate their Qualified Tips and Qualified Overtime and claim the deduction on their 2025 1040 tax return. Tax year 2025 is a transition year, due to the retroactive nature of its start and the inability of the IRS, Social Security Administration and payroll systems to implement the changes. The amounts arrived at, by the below methods, may not be 100% accurate, but it is acceptable for 2025, according…
On Independence Day, 2025, President Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This 330-page act covers a great deal, most of which will not be discussed in this article, but since it does have an impact on the payroll world, I will review pertinent items including the no tax on tips and overtime provision and the retroactive change to the Employee Retention Tax Credit. Employee Retention Tax Credit For ERTC, there will be no credit allowed for claims involving the 3rd and 4th quarter 2021, filed after January 31, 2024. This is somewhat good news, as Congress…
While the Federal minimum wage remains at $7.25 per hour for the past 15 years, 28 states and many cities, counties and locals have set increases effective January 1st, 2024 with a few announcing a change during 2024. Many states continue their path to $15.00 per hour with a number of states exceeding that rate and places in Washington state that have a minimum wage approaching $20 per hour. A list of each state/local, along with the new hourly rate is listed below. Any state that does not have a minimum wage change scheduled is not listed. All rates are…
There are two questions that are brought up when talking about the topic of whether to deduct credit card processing fees before paying out charge tips to your employees. Can you do it, and should you do it? Credit card processing fees can be a significant expense to any business. In 2022, the average credit card processing fee ranged between 1.5% and 3.5% of the sale. There are a number of businesses that charge the consumer a convenience fee when paying by card over cash to cover this added expense, but that practice has not caught on for restaurants. At…