Income tax write-offs

[Hassel99]

Exactly my point! It is my choice to tip, also my choice to make donations that I get to write off.
Just looking on thoughts of what people think about the right to have tips as tax deductions.
Thank you!

~V~

You do not get to write any donations off unless they are to a registered charity, since servers are not a registered charity there is no way to write off the "tip" under the law.

[LordEd]

When Customers tip, the receiver is supposed to claim it on their taxes. Then why shouldn't the customer be allowed to write it off on their taxes?
Some say we are supplementing their wage, employers write off wages, why can't we?

Thoughts?... (I tried this topic in another post but it kept getting derailed, please don't get into right and wrong tipping practices. There are other threads about that)

~V~

If I hire somebody to clean my apartment, it would be for my personal benefit and would not be a tax deduction. If I hired a janitor to clean a place of business, it would be for the benefit of the business and would be. In both cases, wages are paid. The different is who benefits.

[V-Rated]

I am more than aware of tips and write offs...

The topic is "what is people thoughts about Revenue Canada allowing us to write off tips/gratuities.
Again, employees have to claim it, why can't we write it off"

I'm not asking for explanations of personal vs business write offs, nor am I asking the definition of the word.
Out of all this there was only one person who actually understood the thread!

V!

[Randall T]

OK, so no, I don't think it should be a personal exemption. I really don't see any logic why it should be. The restaurant bill is taxable revenue as well as the tip. No difference except it goes to different parties.

[Hassel99]

I am more than aware of tips and write offs...

The topic is "what is people thoughts about Revenue Canada allowing us to write off tips/gratuities.
Again, employees have to claim it, why can't we write it off"

I'm not asking for explanations of personal vs business write offs, nor am I asking the definition of the word.
Out of all this there was only one person who actually understood the thread!

V!

I think the onus should be on you to explain why you think it should be a personal tax exception. "employees have to claim it" is not really a reason that makes sense to me. Its not a charitable donation in the legal sense of the word, so there really is no mechanism that will allow us to write it off. Do you have any precedent or reasons why it should be a write off?

[Fancy]

Tips are a source of income to the employee and needs to be claimed. To give a tip is a choice. I don't agree it be used as a write off as compared to a charity.

[LordEd]

When Customers tip, the receiver is supposed to claim it on their taxes. Then why shouldn't the customer be allowed to write it off on their taxes?
Some say we are supplementing their wage, employers write off wages, why can't we?

Thoughts?... (I tried this topic in another post but it kept getting derailed, please don't get into right and wrong tipping practices. There are other threads about that)

~V~

My explanation was towards your first post.

Some say we are supplementing their wage, employers write off wages, why can't we?

My example was to show you can pay wages and not get a tax write-off. The housekeeper you hire personally must pay taxes on the income, even though they are receiving it from your after-tax, non-written off dollars.

[Smurf]

You don't get to write off the money you pay for the bill, why should you get to write off the tips. They are your choice, you do not need to give them.

[Bsuds]

You don't get to write off the money you pay for the bill, why should you get to write off the tips. They are your choice, you do not need to give them.

You don't "need" to give to a charity either.

Of course there is no way to verify how much you tip so how could you claim it?

I help support an adult child at home and would like to clam that too!

[LANDM]

Out of all this there was only one person who actually understood the thread!

V!

If that is the case, then you either have the choice of continuing to state that nobody understands it, without further explanation, or you can choose to explain adequately so that we do understand.
Or, are you simply taking the position that, since you have no agreement by others, nobody understands the thread?

I can accept that I may not understand your intent but, without adequate explanation, I cannot hope to further that understanding. I look at the responses and feel they are all reasonable and cover your initial questions.

You state you understand the concept of write-offs, but then ask continually why a purely personal write-off should not be allowed.......it's because it is personal, not business related.
As for charity, that is yet another exemption allowance which is unrelated to personal use and it should be clear why the government allows, under certain rules, such writing off of charitable donations against income.
Your primary thesis is flawed and many reasonable examples have been given as comparison. Once again, if you are mysteriously talking about something totally different, please explain.

[kumazatheef]

Personal expenses are just that. Otherwise, we could write everything off against income.

This.

I am more than aware of tips and write offs...

Ehhmm ... sure about that?

Write-offs by their very nature are for business expenses. Pretty much it's a deduction for the cost of doing business. Otherwise: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/ ... u-eng.html

I'm not asking for explanations of personal vs business write offs, nor am I asking the definition of the word.

Well to have a healthy debate, a clear understanding of the terms is required, because sounds like there's confusion on "write-off" vs. "deduction" as they've been interchanged.

While the initial principle is definitely thought-provoking, again: it's personal payment, ultimately you are not their employee. So while a customer may be supplementing wages/income, there's no requirement to do so, therefore no burden ... otherwise, you could be required to pay minimum wage as well and don't get me started on the paperwork.

[wanderingman]

LANDM wrote:
Personal expenses are just that. Otherwise, we could write everything off against income

then we would have no tax moneys to pay the scum bags in the senate and the indians

[wanderingman]

Kumasatheef quote:Well to have a healthy debate, a clear understanding of the terms is required, because sounds like there's confusion on "write-off" vs. "deduction" as they've been interchanged.

ok whats the difference in your opinion?

[my5cents]

The principle is pretty simple. An "entity" is allowed to deduct from it's income, expenses paid to help earn income.

If you buy someone a meal for a business purpose (ie, you are talking about business [basically sucking up]) you are permitted to deduct that amount from company income. Part of that meal, is the tip.

If you are not in business, or don't work for a company that allows you to incur expenses for the company and you buy a personal meal, the meal and the tip are not deductible because it was not purchased as an expense to earn income, it was just purchased to feed your face.

Thinking the tip part of the meal is different from the price of the meal is just flawed logic. The tip is just part of a meal, and the "voluntariness" of "giving" the waiting staff money has nothing to do with making the "donation" tax deductible.

Here's and interesting one..... I think unfair but it's the way it is....

You are working painting wigits. Your employer sends you off to a course on better wigit painting. All reasonable expenses you incur during the trip are tax deductible by your employer.

But....

You are working painting wigits, you want to better yourself and feel that taking a course being provided would help you do your job and get ahead. You approach your employer and he says NO, he isn't willing to pay for the tuition or the expenses of the trip. He will give you the time off to go, but that's all. You feel strongly that the course will help you, you go to the course, keep all the receipts and try to claim them on your personal income tax. Those expenses will be TURNED DOWN. You are not a company, you are just filing personal income tax.

If you were a contractor, working as a sole proprietor of your own company that painted wigits for the company above. You could deduct. There are several rules that you have to comply with to be deemed an independent contractor, so you can't just declare yourself one. But, being "regular Joe", you couldn't claim the deduction for the course, just like you can't the meal.

[Glacier]

When Customers tip, the receiver is supposed to claim it on their taxes. Then why shouldn't the customer be allowed to write it off on their taxes?
Some say we are supplementing their wage, employers write off wages, why can't we?

Thoughts?... (I tried this topic in another post but it kept getting derailed, please don't get into right and wrong tipping practices. There are other threads about that)

~V~

Simple solution for you. If you don't like that you can't claim tips as charity (since they are part of a business transaction), don't tip. Easy peasy. End of story.