Doug wrote:

- quote -

Thanks Doug. Agree with you points about the wait staff.

Alton

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Her W-2 is going to overstate her income. As I see it, you
have three choices.

1) Request a corrected W-2.
2) Decided it's not worth it given the amount of extra taxes
that will end up being paid, or
3) Consider it a wash because on some shifts tips were
under-reported.

It's this third one I want to talk about, for being a waiter
or waitress is not exactly the plush deal people sometimes
assume it is. I worked for California Pizza Kitchen from
Oct. 2000 to Jan. 2001. It's a well-run company. However,
wait staff pay 3 and a half percent of gross for the person
hosting that shift. We also paid an additional percentage
for bar drinks and for coffee drinks. All of this I take is
standard practice in the restaurant industry. Now, three
percent may not sound like a whole lot, but when compared
against a fifteen percent tip, that is twenty percent of
your income.

There are slow nights. People can become very impatient
with dessert, and not leave much of a tip even tough
everything else went smoothly, and it's the cold cook who
does appetizers, salads, and desserts and who in
unpredictable ways sometimes gets jammed up (I tend to like
the math in any enterprise!, and if you had two cold cooks,
both of them would be bored most of the time). People can
sit with the check on their table for twenty minutes, which
is fine, then suddenly decide they want to leave, and I'm
supposed to be a mind reader and know that it's ready to be
picked up right then and there. And then, frankly some
people seem to have class-based preconceptions that waiters
and waitresses aren't very smart, and to act on these!
Whereas, in fact, at least five people there, myself
included, had college degrees.

It is a challenging job. In honesty, I only did medium. I
remember talking with a more experienced waitress of how she
choose between two seemingly right-now priorities. She told
me she does the most important thing, and then sweeps along
other things on her way out of the kitchen. Of course! I'm
trying to do it ins ome perfect algorithmic way, and it just
doesn't lend itself to that at all. It's like reading a
poker book by Johnny Chan and playing in a clunky way and
wondering what's wrong. What's wrong, what's lacking, is
the sense of feel, the sense of touch. And you've got to
give yourself time to develop your own personal way in this
regard.

Many customers were a delight. There was fun interaction with co-
workers. It definitely had its good points. And on many shifts, it's
5:30, and next time I look down at my watch, it's 8:30 and where has
the time gone. The time has absolutely flown by! And that's
something to wish for in any job.

-Doug

PS I hope people don't mind me including some about being a
waiter. That's one thing I like about taxes. You get to
learn about a variety of businesses and occupations.

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I have a friend that works as a waitress. She reported tips
to her employer, but mistakenly (her mistake or the
employer's mistake in not asking) reported the total tips
that she received, however, she has to share part of her
tips with the doorman and the kitchen staff.

Any suggestions as to how she should proceed?

Thanks in advance,

Alton

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >