LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — No matter what else, you have to give President Donald Trump credit for keeping his promise.
Speaking in Sunset Park in June 2024 on a blazing summer day, Trump promised an end to taxes on tipped income, something he said would make tipped workers "very happy."
WATCH | Trump delivered on his promise, but here's why some are saying the benefits are limited
And Trump kept his repeated promise, and included a provision to give tipped workers a break in his so-called Big, Beautiful Bill that passed Congress in July.
Promise made, promise kept. But Trump's prediction that workers would be happy? That's another matter.
Josefina Hertado, a food server at a Las Vegas hotel-casino, said Tuesday that limits on the Republican version of no taxes on tips made it less beneficial than it could have been.
"I mean, I'm grateful for the no tax on tips," she said. "However, there's a cap and there's expiration so ... it really doesn't benefit, actually, you know, because I'm a single mother of four, so it really doesn't benefit."
Hertado — a Culinary Union Local 226 member for 30 years — was referring to a $25,000 cap on tipped income, essentially a tax deduction for the money she gets from customers. And the provision is set to expire in four years, a date that Hertado is tracking closely.
"Honestly, because I'm going to struggle when it expires, you know. I'm gonna have that fear, like, oh, it's coming up for expiration, like what am I gonna do next that, you know, even though I'm grateful, but it's not gonna benefit me."
There are other strictures as well: Automatic gratuities added to large parties are not subject to the deduction. And there's a marriage penalty; even if both spouses work for tips, if they file taxes jointly, they're limited to just $25,000.
Hertado says she prefers a bill authored by Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., who once ran the Culinary Training Center, where he touted his version of the legislation at a meeting in February. His bill would include guardrails to prevent abuse, allowed for a much higher deduction and abolished the sub-minimum wage, which allows employers in certain states to pay employees as little as $2.13 per hour. (Nevada is not one of those states.)
WATCH | Congressman Steven Horsford pushes for no taxes on tips with some changes
Horsford's bill went nowhere in the Republican-controlled Congress, but Republicans have attacked Democrats for voting against tax relief for tip earners because of their vote against the Big, Beautiful Bill.
Now, Nevada's lawmakers are trying to improve the Republican no taxes on tips law as regulations are written to implement it.
But real change won't come until new legislation is drafted, says Ted Pappageorge, the secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union.
"Trump certainly started the fire, and he has to have credit for that, but at the end of the day, there's some real work to be done on this, and if we do the work, then there'll be some relief for tip earners," Pappageorge said. "I think that what we have to do is just be very vigilant and push very hard to make sure we get the best deal we can get for workers, and then we have another bite at that apple, because at the end of the day, this is temporary and it goes away in a couple years."
He said tips are just part of the issue, however. Costs are rising for food, gasoline, health care, housing and insurance, which squeezes workers, even with the new tax benefit.
And the fight over tariffs on goods made in foreign countries, especially Canada, along with high-profile immigration crackdowns in places such as Los Angeles, have put a big dent in tourism in Las Vegas, he added.
"The Democrats didn't deliver on the cost of living, they didn't deliver on the issue of housing, and that is the opportunity right now," Pappageorge said.
"And as far as we're concerned, the Culinary Union is going to talk to Republicans, we're going to talk to independents, and we're going to talk to Democrats, and we're going to run our own members, if we don't see that politicians on the national level, and the state level, and the local level are not going to tackle what is a red-flag, five-alarm fire right now on the cost of living, the cost of groceries, the cost of rent, the cost of housing, the cost of health care."
Do you have questions about politics, elections or government? Email us using the Ask Steve link on our website.
Local News