Tipping : Cash or credit

It is my understanding that most servers prefer cash tips. I prefer to put it on a credit card but I usually acquiesce and give cash.

Is it really that big of big preference for a server to accept a tip on a credit card?

I would like to hear only from people who have been servers.

 

I almost always charge the amount on the bill and leave the tip in cash, and then give the waiter a heads up of the cash tip when he comes to take the check.

 

Why would you ever tip cash?

You're losing out on CC rewards as well as convenience.

 

Back when I was a server in college and for a few months after, servers preferred cash because they wouldn't necessarily have to claim it all as income. That was nearly 20 years ago though and I think there are new tax rules that make under reporting tips much more difficult these days.

I liked cash more because if I had nothing but CC receipts I'd have to wait for a manager to give me my tips. If I had received enough cash that night, I could add up my totals, turn in the cash/CC receipts for my sales, pocket my tip amount and leave. Of course, this required a few tables to pay for the entire check in cash, not just the tips.

Regardless, I can't imagine anyone expecting cash these days. I probably use cash more than anyone I know and I still pay for just about everything with a CC. I think the only thing I use cash for is if I'm splitting a bar/dinner tab, buying a Coke/candy bar or leaving it for the cleaning lady.


P.S. OP, when you say you "usually acquiesce", does that mean you've had servers actually ask you to tip in cash?

 

Never had them ask. I assumed servers would prefer a cash tip so I consider that acquiescing since I would prefer to put it on my credit card.

 

Cash more than half of the time for me

I have often pondered the question that the OP is asking. I see it both ways as well. The positives about leaving cash tips involve (1) helping the server for the reasons mentioned above (convenience and taxes); (2) allowing one party to pay for the meal (CC) and the other to "leave the tip" (cash); and (3) the convenience for me when my meal is reimbursable as a business expense but the tip is not. The negative about leaving cash tips involve (1) preparation -- having enough cash on hand to leave the tip and (2) missing out on credit card rewards for the amount of the tip. I have never been a server but I did spend two summers as a caddie at a swanky golf course. I earned half of minimum wage ($2.13 at the time) and tips. I MUCH preferred cash tips in that job since I did not have to wait to get them in my regular check which could be as much as 1-2 weeks in the future.

 

A lot of restaurants charge the servers a percentage of their cc tips to cover the cost that the cc companies charge the restaurant. This can be a lot of money as most people use cc and not cash anymore. Fifteen years ago cc receipts accounted for roughly 25% of the payments received compared to now, 80-90%.

 

I almost always tip with my debit card.

 

If the server/bartender is a friend, they get cash. If its a random, it gets put on the CC.

 

Same here. My friends want the cash.

Bill

 

Well..I guess I can take into consideration that I am a generous tipper. Credit card from now on.

 

If we're signing the bill to the room, the tip is definitely cash.

I usually leave cash because I was a server once. My husband never was, he leaves it on CC. Dining out is such a small part of our CC bill that the benefits earned by this is minuscule.

 

I like to use a card, easy to just round up to the next dollar.

 

They prefer cash because if done by credit card they usually have to pay the credit card processing fee (usually 3.5%) on the tip and cash makes it easier to hide the tip from paying taxes on some or all of it. Plus, not sure if this works the same in the USA but in Canada you can cancel/revoke a tip paid with a credit card up to a year after you gave the tip.

 

Daughter was server for many years. Servers have to tip out Bartenders, Bussers at the end of the evening (not sure of the percentage - maybe 10% total) . If a tip is put on a CC - they have to report the full amount as income, even though a percentage was tipped out to others. If they are tipped in CASH - they still tip out the percentage, but they can report the actual amount of tip - instead of total tip received.

 

Various BS like this, and if the restaurants arent covering the 3.5% fees on credit card tips (this is a new "wtf"/BS to me), this makes me feel better that I generally tip in cash. The amount I save them from tipping cash apparently outweighs the extra 1% I would earn on my CC.

 

I usually tip cash as well. I've actually had servers refuse credit card tips before. I think the biggest part of it has already been mentioned, where if it's on a CC, then there's a record of them receiving that as income. If it's cash, it's a little less traceable if they decide not to claim it.

I'm guess that some of the businesses may also pass along credit card fees on the tips...for example, AMEX charges about 3% (may vary depending on business etc.) so if you add this up over thousands of dollars worth of times, it can make a difference.

 

I usually tip on the CC. That is what's easiest for me. How the tipping culture really gotten so bad that not only are we obligated to tip but to worry about how the recipient would prefer to receive their tip. I draw the line at that. I tip according to social norms. After that, it's up to the server to work out how they receive their fair share.

 

Whatever works best for me. I'm not breaking my neck to carry cash for just for a tip for a meal I am putting on plastic. If servers are being forced to pay taxes on a tip they had to share, their problem is with their employer and the IRS. I want to be a customer, not frickin' ADP!

 

I tip on the CC also. I had no idea that there were all of these ramifications on the part of the server when a tip is put on the CC.

My question is why do the server have to pay part of the service charge on a tip put on the CC. Can't the restaurant as a business do it? It's the least they can do for their employees who they are paying less than minimum wage anyway.