Senate Passes ‘No Tax On Tips’

Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen pushed the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to pass a proposal to stop the federal government from taxing tips.

Rosen, joined by Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, proposed the Senate version of the bill, which came after President Donald Trump suggested the idea on the campaign trail. The president, then a presidential candidate, introduced it during a rally last summer in Las Vegas.

Senators passed the No Tax on Tips Act by unanimous consent following a speech from Rosen on Tuesday. A similar proposal to ban the taxation of tips in the U.S. House was part of a larger budget and spending plan, which Democrats and some Senate Republicans oppose.

“Nevadans, our families, are being squeezed, and we need real relief,” Rosen said from the Senate Floor, adding Nevada has more tipped workers per capita than any other state.

“For some, many service and hospitality workers, tips aren’t extra, it’s part of their income that they use to make ends meet.”

“’No tax on tips’ was one of President Trump’s key promises to the American people, which he unveiled in my state of Nevada,” Rosen said. “And, I am not afraid to embrace a good idea, wherever it comes from. So I agreed we need to get this done. It’s not a time for politics, it’s a time for progress for hard-working Americans.”

Another proposal from the House, from Democratic Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford, would also end the federal tax on tips. Rosen and Cruz’s No Tax on Tips Act now heads to the House as a standalone.

Democratic Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto also co-sponsored the Senate proposal.

“I’m happy to work with anyone on legislation that’s going to improve Nevadans’ lives, and I’m pleased that my bipartisan bill to put more money in the pockets of hardworking Nevadans has passed the Senate,” Cortez Masto said.

“Tipped workers are the backbone of Nevada’s economy, and with prices skyrocketing, working families deserve this break. I hope the House of Representatives passes this bill that permanently ends federal taxes on tips, instead of House Republicans’ unserious version that sunsets no taxes on tips in just four years while gutting health care for the very working families they say they are standing with.”

The Senate proposal passed Tuesday includes language to include “guardrails and income limits to ensure only traditionally tipped employees will benefit,” Cortez Masto’s office said.