As I understand it, the amount in Box 8 of your W-2 is transferred to Form 4137, where you are supposed to add any other unreported tips, and pay FICA tax on the total. But, I think that most servers will not add any unreported tips to the Form 4137. So, the only unreported tips on Form 4137 would be the allocated tips in Box 8.

The unfairness of "pooling". Management involvement in what should be a private expression of appreciation between customer and server. And, the spaghetti snarl of tax regs. Another reason to pay servers a regular wage and drop the antiquated "tip" scam.

I agree. If the server already chose to under-report tips such that they received an amount in box 8 then it is highly unlikely that they would choose to report more.

It's possible that there are reasons other than lack of reporting that result in a number in box 8 but in general I have no sympathy for anyone who intentionally under-reports in order to avoid paying taxes.

5% is nothing. These people rely on tips. I just had a waitress tell me someone tipped her less than $3 and she had to share with the hostess so she got virtually nothing. I agree with you that it is nonsense but until someone changes these laws, they need tips to survive.

While I sympathize with " these people rely on tips", whose fault is that? Not yours and not mine. Why does the freaking hostess, get a cut? Don't they make minimum for walking me to an open table, which I could do if the "Please seat yourself" sign was set out. Doesn't the busperson make minimum? Nobody in the kitchen should rely on tips, surely! And who is this mysterious "runner" that shows up with what is supposed to be my order, makes a guess at what it is then asks "who gets the steak?" Where is my waitperson, you know the one who is supposed to wait on me?

I hate your waitress. She told you that "oh pity me" tale to make you feel sorry for her and guilt trip you into giving her a bigger tip to make up for the (probably fictional) cheapskate. She sure enhanced your dining experience, didn't she. She had no business discussing any of her personal woes with any customer. Very, very unprofessional. Keep it professional.

I agree.

I guess everyone has a different mindset when dining out. I don't really want my server to get too chatty, or too friendly. I'm not looking for another dinner guest. Cheerful, polite, and efficient works best for me.

Nothing wrong with professional. But servers are people too and waitstaff are apt to be young. As in teens-or-early-20s young. Not all, of course, but quite a few it seems.

But tips can be used for more than showing appreciation (or not) for the quality of service. A couple of years back my wife and I were dining at Cody's in LSL, and our waitress was obviously NOT having a good day. I overheard her talking to a co-worker, saying that she had been called in to work ON HER DAY OFF because the place was short-staffed. The coffee she brought was barely warm so I asked her if she could bring me another cup, which she seemed to think was an imposition by the way she exhaled exasperatedly and headed for the kitchen. The hot cup never came, so about 10 minutes later I asked another server passing by if she could get the coffee for me, which she did. Our waitress saw that and said that the reason she was slow was that she was helping out in another section in addition as well as waiting on us. All in all, not a good experience.

Came time to pay the bill (about $25, as I recall). I made it a point to tip the waitress in person ($10) and told her that I hoped that her day would get better. I recall she had a shocked look on her face, followed by a BIG smile.

Made both of us feel good.

Good for you! You did something nice. You were generous without the expectation of generosity being forced on you. Giving anything that is not expected is a blessing to both the giver and the gifted! When gratuities are expected/demanded then the blessing becomes a curse and the joy is eliminated.

Agree, she shouldn't have dumped the guilt trip on the customer.

HOWEVER - the situation she described - really does happen. Even when the tip is a GOOD tip - I mean if the person only ordered a cup of coffee and a slice of cake for $8 total, if they give a $3 tip - that really does get shared with the host and the other wait staff in many places. If it's not cash, it gets pooled. And the waiter who earned that $3 tip might not even see a full dollar of it, once it's been split.

We don’t eat out often but when we do we tip minimum $50. Checks over $100 we give 50 percent. We do this because we can and we know about struggling and we like to make someone’s day. Waite staff remember us.

True, but they DO get a share of everyone else's tips. It's sometimes called spreading the wealth or leveling the playing field.

$8 meal. $3 tip. 37.5% is very generous. Maybe, just maybe the cake and coffee is all they could afford for their 90th birthday party of one. Old and alone and poor. And you worry about the waitress and look down on a very generous 37.5%.
If you don't know the circumstances of the customer, you have no right to judge. In my scenario the customer was very generous, and if the tip is pooled that is the waitstaff problem, not the customers. Even though the tip was generous by % standards if the actual cash figure recieved is not appreciated by the recipient, then they don't deserve any tip.

And here I thought the Rat Pack was all dead.
Good on you, mate. It's your money (I assume), spend it as you please.

They get a share of everyone else's tips, minus the tips of the hostess and busboy, who don't get their own tips at all. But the hostess and busboy get a share of everyone else's tips. Even if the hostess was busy with some other party of 3 and the waitress sat her own table's party - even if the busboy was busy with a different table when the waitress served the water and took the plates away from her own assigned table - it doesn't matter. The busboy and hostess will get some of that waitress's earned money. And she has no say-so in the matter. UNLESS it's a cash tip, because she can pocket it.

You don't know that. The policy can vary and may require that all tips be shared. I worked as a bartender when I was younger and the policy was that all tips were shared. Pocketing a tip would have had unpleasant consequences.