WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) sent a letter to United States Commissioner of Internal Revenue Charles Rettig urging him to consult with Nevada hospitality workers, including the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, to discuss what a fair tip allocation rate would be for tipped workers in Nevada. The Senators wrote this letter in response to reports that on January 1, the IRS raised the tip allocation rate for Nevada tipped workers without consulting labor unions or affected hospitality workers, including the Culinary Union, as it has done in the past.
“We have been informed … that the IRS may have raised the tip allocation rate, effective January 1, 2022, in some cases to higher levels than in 2019,” the Senators wrote. “We further understand that the IRS is allegedly conveying the change through hospitality employers, but has not met or even consulted with labor unions, such as Culinary Workers Union Local 226, or the tens of thousands of tipped workers that Culinary Union represents in Nevada alone.”
The Senators requested that IRS staff schedule a meeting with the Culinary Union and affected workers to discuss what a fair tip allocation rate would be for tipped workers in Nevada and to outline their reasoning for raising the tip allocation when the hospitality and tourism industries are still recovering from the impacts of the pandemic.
The Senators concluded, “the tip allocation rate affects tens of thousands of workers in Nevada around the country, and they deserve a seat at the table at a time when they face higher rental and housing costs while hoping to work enough hours to make ends meet.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.
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