Why report tips to your employer? You must report tips to your employer so that:

• Your employer can withhold federal income tax and social security and Medicare taxes or railroad retirement tax,
• Your employer can report the correct amount of your earnings to the Social Security Administration or Railroad Retirement Board (which affects your benefits when you retire or if you become disabled, or your family's benefits if you die), and
• You can avoid the penalty for not reporting tips to your employer (explained later).

What tips to report. Report to your employer only cash, check, or credit card tips you receive.

If your total tips for any one month from any one job are less than $20, do not report them to your employer.

Do not report the value of any noncash tips, such as tickets or passes, to your employer. You do not pay social security and Medicare taxes or railroad retirement tax on these tips.

How to report. If your employer does not give you any other way to report tips, you can use Form 4070. To get a year's supply of the form, ask the IRS or your employer for Publication 1244. Fill in the information asked for on the form, sign and date the form, and give it to your employer.

If you do not use Form 4070, give your employer a statement with the following information.

• Your name, address, and social security number.
• Your employer's name, address, and business name (if it is different from the employer's name).
• The month (or the dates of any shorter period) in which you received tips.
• The total tips required to be reported for that period.

You must sign and date the statement. You should keep a copy with your personal records.

Your employer may require you to report your tips more than once a month. However, the statement cannot cover a period of more than one calendar month.

Electronic tip statement. Your employer can have you furnish your tip statements electronically.

When to report. Give your report for each month to your employer by the 10th of the next month. If the 10th falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, give your employer the report by the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

Example 1. You must report your tips received in June 2002 by July 10, 2002.

Example 2. You must report your tips received in January 2002 by February 11, 2002. February 10 is on a Sunday, and the 11th is the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

Final report. If your employment ends during the month, you can report your tips when your employment ends.

Penalty for not reporting tips. If you do not report tips to your employer as required, you may be subject to a penalty equal to 50% of the social security and Medicare taxes or railroad retirement tax you owe on the unreported tips. (For information about these taxes, see Reporting social security and Medicare taxes on tips not reported to your employer under Reporting Tips on Your Tax Return, later.) The penalty amount is in addition to the taxes you owe.

You can avoid this penalty if you can show reasonable cause for not reporting the tips to your employer. To do so, attach a statement to your return explaining why you did not report them.

Giving your employer money for taxes. Your regular pay may not be enough for your employer to withhold all the taxes you owe on your regular pay plus your reported tips. If this happens, you can give your employer money until the close of the calendar year to pay the rest of the taxes.

If you do not give your employer enough money, your employer will apply your regular pay and any money you give to the taxes in the following order.

1. All taxes on your regular pay.
2. Social security and Medicare taxes or railroad retirement tax on your reported tips.
3. Federal, state, and local income taxes on your reported tips.

Any taxes that remain unpaid can be collected by your employer from your next paycheck. If withholding taxes remain uncollected at the end of the year, you may be subject to a penalty for underpayment of estimated taxes. See Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, for more information.

You must report on your tax return any social security and Medicare taxes or railroad retirement tax that remained uncollected at the end of 2001. See Reporting uncollected social security and Medicare taxes on tips under Reporting Tips on Your Tax Return, later. These uncollected taxes will be shown in box 12 of your 2001 Form W-2 (codes A and B).

Tip Rate Determination and Education Program

Your employer may participate in the Tip Rate Determination and Education Program. The program was developed to help employees and employers understand and meet their tip reporting responsibilities.

There are two agreements under the program -- the Tip Rate Determination Agreement (TRDA) and the Tip Reporting Alternative Commitment (TRAC). In addition, employers in the food and beverage industry may be able to get approval of an employer-designed EmTRAC program. For information on the EmTRAC program, see Notice 2001-1 in Internal Revenue Bulletin No. 2001-2.

Your employer can provide you with a copy of the agreement. If you want to learn more about these agreements, contact the local tip coordinator. A list of tip coordinators is available at www.irs.gov.

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