I am doing bookkeeping for a restaurant, are the tips received and reported by the waitress taxable for unemployment purposes?

I am doing bookkeeping for a restaurant, are the tips received and reported by the waitress taxable for unemployment purposes?

Answer:
Tips reported by a restaurant waitress to an employer are taxable for unemployment tax calculation purposes, subject to certain thresholds and guidelines. Also, there are additional tax treatment considerations for different types of food service businesses and tip and gratuity procedures that, as a professional bookkeeper, you may want to be familiar with. You can review tax industry and IRS information regarding payroll taxes and other tax implications for tipped employees at the following websites:

• Employer Payroll Tax Obligations for Tipped Employees: bizfilings.com
• What Employers Need to Know About Tip Reporting: rrgconsulting.com
• Three Challenges Tipped Employees Present to Employers: paychex.com
• New Tip-Reporting Rule Looms Large: accountingweb.com

IRS information:

• Withholding and Reporting: irs.gov
• Employer’s Tax Guide: irs.gov
• Restaurants Tax Center: irs.gov