Kamala Harris’ home state of California has failed to pass a bill advanced by Republicans in the state senate to end taxes on tips.
This comes after the Harris campaign came under fire last month for mimicking former President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to scrap taxes on tips for service workers, as was reported by Resist the Mainstream.
While the idea of not taxing tips was seemingly popular enough with the public for Harris to copy it, tips will not be exempted from state income taxes in California, as a proposal for such a concept was voted down by the state’s Democrats.
Harris has previously been at odds with potential political allies in California. The lack of Democrat support for her stolen ‘No tax on tips’ policy lends credence to Trump’s statement that only he would be able to enshrine it into law.
“We’re ready to go when President Trump gets elected,” said Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) in an interview with Breitbart News, in reference to a bill eliminating federal income tax on gratuities.
California remains one of the most unaffordable states in the US. California law also requires employers to pay tipped workers full minimum wage before tips, and employers cannot get a cut of the tips. However, because the tips are still taxed, workers are not able to keep the full amount.
Federal law does not require tipped workers to be paid full minimum wage before tips unless tips cannot reliably make up the difference. Only seven states (Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) have the same minimum wage for tipped and non-tipped workers. Earning tips without being made to pay income tax on them is therefore all the more critical for hospitality service workers to maintain a living wage.
“Even Trump and Harris both say we should eliminate the ‘tip tax,’” said the California Senate Republican Caucus in a statement addressing the Democrats’ refusal to pass the bill.
Source: Resistthemainstream
