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Are you obliged to tip or can you refuse? (feddit.online)
submitted 2 days ago by to c/casualconversation@piefed.social
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I'm not into tipping when I've visited the US, since I come from a country where servers are paid the equivalent of Fr. 20-30 ($24-43) an hour so there isn't an obligation to tip them, but that's the opposite in the US. Am I allowed to hand them large cash tips such as Fr. 1000 ($1236) or 500€ ($583)? It gets weirder: as apparently fast food places demand a tip, like really? It's getting out of hand, what's the point then?

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[–] 2 points 2 days ago* (1 child)

That 7.25 is a nationwide floor on the minimum wage set by the Federal Government. States are free to set a higher minimum. But in states where there is no minimum wage (so the Federal wage applies), tipped workers can be paid as little as $2.13 an hour directly by their employers, as long as they get at least $5.12 per hour in tips.

Take home money is a different thing. Someone making minimum wage on a full-time (40 hr/wk) schedule would only make about $15000/yr. (Let's ignore the second jobs and overtime they are probably putting in for now.) The Federal standard deduction is currently around $16000, so if that person is single and not someone else's dependant they will likely end up owing no income taxes. But, they would owe 9.1% right off the top in Social Security and Medicare taxes. They would also have to consider health care. Some states subsidize certain health plans so low-income people can get basic coverage for very little, but that was part of the Medicare expansion that Trump shit all over....

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 child)

    Most countries including the US impose income tax (so no matter where you go, it's the same since income tax exists in a lot of countries except a few like UAE, Monaco, Bahamas). But, minimum wages are different by country: it's Fr. 25 ($30) per hour in Geneva (Switzerland) while it's $2.13 per hour in Texas (USA).

    Taxes deducted from one's paycheck is by definition used to fund welfare, roads, schools, health care, etc. as a nation's government need money for maintaning public infrastructure. How else do you have the highway (interstate) or how do hospitals stay operational? These things require government funding.

    Do YOU think paying high taxes are worth funding schools, hospitals, roads in the US considering their condition? (Since I last heard they're in rough condition in some areas as if they've been neglected).

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago

    Do YOU think paying high taxes are worth funding schools, hospitals, roads in the US considering their condition?

    I do, considering that I continue to live in what many consider to be a "high-tax" state.

    There are lots of layers to taxes in the US, too:

    -income/payroll taxes are taken by the Feds and the States

    -sales taxes are taken by the states and local governments

    -property taxes are taken by local governments

    And there can be several layers of local governments. I live in a village, which is inside a town, which is inside a county, all with their own governing bodies. In addition, there is a school district, which is funded separately and has a separate boundary that incorporates parts of several towns.

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