Claiming 10 Percent

When I complain about not getting tipped, I have a lot of people respond with, "Well there is no law that says you have to tip."

Right. There isn't. It's just ettiquette.

But at the end of the night I have to claim my tips. This means that I have to punch into the computer how much cash tips I'm walking out of the door with because at the end of each pay period I'm taxed on my tips.

Waiters HAVE to claim tips. At my restaurant, because of the clientele that we serve, a lot of times, we're claiming tips that we didn't make.

It's unspoken, but we have to claim atleast 10 percent. So whatever my total sales are at the end of the night, I have to claim that I made 10 percent of that in tips. Even the government thinks that I should atleast be making 10 percent of my total sales.

This isn't always the case. A few nights ago. I made about 6 percent of my total sales, then I had to claim that I made 10 percent, so ultimately, I'm paying for some of these tables to dine at my restaurant.

My total sales were about a thousand, I made $60 but had to claim that I made $100. Then I have to pay taxes on the tips that I claim that I didn't even make.

When people don't tip atleast 10 percent it costs me money and it's really frustrating considering that I only make minimum wage and I have bills to pay, too.

I encourage everyone to tip their waiters ATLEAST 10 percent. Your waiter should not have to pay the government for you, when you decide to go out to dinner and be cheap.

I'm willing to settle with 10 percent but in a perfect world, everyone would tip 20 percent.