Senate Passes ‘No Tax on Tips Act’ in Unanimous Vote

The proposal establishes a new tax deduction of up to $25,000 for cash tips.

A bill, with cash for the tip, left on a restaurant table in Los Angeles on Aug. 24, 2024. Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

Lawmakers in the Republican-led Senate on May 20 passed a proposal to eliminate federal taxes on tips, moving a step closer to fulfilling a campaign promise by President Donald Trump that has drawn support from both sides of the political spectrum.

The measure establishes a new tax deduction of up to $25,000 for tips—whether received in cash, by credit or debit card, or by check—that are earned by employees in occupations that customarily receive tips and are reported to their employers for purposes of withholding payroll taxes.

Senators passed the bipartisan “No Tax on Tips Act” in a unanimous vote, sending the legislation to the House of Representatives.

The measure was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators that included two of Nevada’s Democratic senators, Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto.

In a statement following the vote, Cruz said the bill will “have a lasting impact on millions of Americans by protecting the hard-earned dollars of blue-collar workers, the very people who are living paycheck-to-paycheck.”

The Texas lawmaker urged his colleagues in the House to pass the legislation and send it to Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

Under current law, an employee is required to report tips exceeding $20 per month to his or her employer.

The bill does not apply to employees making more than $160,000 in 2025, a figure that will be adjusted annually to account for inflation, according to the bill.

Tipped workers in the bottom 60 percent of the income distribution would receive an average tax cut of $1,260 if tips were excluded from income taxes, according to the nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

The organization said economists at the Budget Lab at Yale and the Tax Foundation have estimated that federal revenues would drop by about $110 billion over 10 years if tips were excluded from individual income taxes.

Trump’s ‘One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act’ Unveiled

The “No Tax on Tips Act” was one of Trump’s key campaign promises, initially unveiled during a presidential campaign rally in Las Vegas in October. In the lead-up to the November 2024 election, Trump pledged to get to work to eliminate the tax immediately after taking office.

The passing of the bill comes as House lawmakers are also considering a “no tax on tips” measure as part of Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill“ unveiled last week.

That bill, which proposes lowering taxes by more than $4 trillion and cutting spending by $1.5 trillion over a decade, also includes cuts to Medicaid and food stamps. It would also cancel green energy programs while providing tens of billions of dollars for border security and immigration enforcement.

In a separate statement on May 20, Rosen thanked her colleagues for passing the bipartisan tax cut proposal, noting that Nevada has the highest concentration of tipped workers in the United States.

“This bipartisan bill is a good idea,” the lawmaker said. “It has support from Democrats and Republicans, so we should pass it, well, as soon as possible, without any poison pills.”

Rosen expressed concerns about the “no tax on tips” measure included in the House Republicans’ bigger budget bill, and urged senators to pass the bipartisan tip measure as a stand-alone bill.

“We shouldn’t be forcing working families to choose between keeping their health care or keeping their tips, which is why we want this bipartisan bill on its own,” Rosen said.

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.