Culinary Union Endorses Harris’s Proposal to End Tax on Tips, Weeks After Trump Proposed It

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to hospitality workers of Culinary Workers Union Local 226 in Las Vegas on January 3, 2024. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The Culinary Workers Union in Nevada endorsed a plan by Vice President Kamala Harris to end taxes on tips for service workers two months after former President Donald Trump proposed the same plan.

During a rally in Las Vegas on Aug. 10, Harris said that she would back ending taxes on tips if elected president, mirroring a policy proposal put forward by Trump at the beginning of June.

“It is my promise to everyone here, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” Harris said during an Aug. 10 rally in Las Vegas.

Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which oversees a crucial voting bloc in the battleground state of Nevada, was quick to endorse the plan.

“Vice-President Kamala Harris acknowledged the hard working men and women of the hospitality industry and committed tonight in Las Vegas to raise the minimum wage across the country and fight to end taxes on tips once elected as the next President of the United States of America,” the union said in an Aug. 10 statement.

The union urged other elected leaders to support efforts by Harris toward these goals.

Neither the union nor Harris mentioned that Trump had proposed part of the same plan.

On June 9, Trump announced for the first time that, if reelected, he would end taxes on tips for service workers.

“For those hotel workers and people who get tips, you’re going to be very happy because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips,” Trump said in Las Vegas.

The former president said he would do this “right away, first thing in office.”

Trump afterward expanded on his plan in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying he hoped that union and blue-collar workers would support him later this year.

Culinary Workers Union Local 226 was quick to release a statement condemning Trump’s proposal as a “wild campaign promise.”

“For decades, the Culinary Union has fought for tipped workers’ rights and against unfair taxation,” Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said in a June 9 statement.

“Relief is definitely needed for tip earners, but Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and wild campaign promises from a convicted felon.”

The Culinary Union did not immediately return a request for comment.

Securing an end to taxes on tips would be a tall order for either candidate. Doing so would require the passage of tax legislation including provisions to alter how the IRS classifies tips.

During Trump’s first term in office, the Republican-controlled House and Senate passed a significant revamping of the tax code that cut both corporate and individual rates.

Under that bill, corporate rate cuts were made permanent, while cuts to the individual tax rate are temporary and will expire next year.

Trump has said that passing a comprehensive new tax bill would be a key focus for him during the first year of his second term in office.

Democrats have also expressed interest in passing new tax legislation. Many of their proposals focus on weighting the tax code more heavily against the very wealthy.