How no tax on tips, overtime will benefit Utahns

Utah Rep. Burgess Owens and fellow Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., joined with a number of local stakeholders Friday to discuss how Utahns will benefit from the Working Families Tax Cut Act.

Part of the discussion, held at MACU offices in Sandy, focused on ways the legislation will benefit Utahns, including no tax on tips and no tax on overtime provisions, as well as a boost in support for school choice. Stakeholders involved in the roundtable included think tank members, members of business associations and leaders of private school systems.

According to Owens, who is Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee chairman, the legislation is the largest tax cut in the history of the U.S.

“The real benefit of this bill is that it impacts everyone,” said Melva Sine, the CEO and president of the Utah Restaurant Association.

“It gives us all more discretionary income so that we can enjoy the services, whether it’s a private school, whether it’s going out and enjoying your favorite restaurant more often, whatever that might be, this provides discretionary income for us all to enjoy using the services and the things that are available in our communities,” she added.

What Rep. Burgess Owens said about the Working Families Tax Cut Act

“This act, which was passed recently, is a true miracle,” Owens said. “We’re recognizing the folks who made our country what it is. It’s our working class, middle class. It’s those who go out every single day, and they dream big, and all they want is just an opportunity to not only work hard, but hold on to what they have.”

Pointing out that this is the largest tax cut in the country’s history, Owens said it will amount to $5 trillion over the next 10 years and is equal to an average of 15% tax cuts for Americans.

The congressman also highlighted the new investment accounts for newborns included in the legislation, sharing how this will help contribute to fiscal responsibility education.

Owens also said that this legislation is Congress recognizing that what they do is “truly at the front edge of our country’s freedom, our culture, our ability to educate our kids, ability to let them go out and have a good career, build their families, dream big, and a place of safety.”

How no tax on tips will impact Utahns

During the roundtable, Owens asked Sine to share how the no tax on tips provision will affect Utahns, specifically restaurant workers.

Sine shared that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of restaurant workers in Utah dropped from 111,000 to 63,000. There are now 123,000 restaurant employees in Utah, but they are still working on building that number.

“Anything that can come along that can help incentivize these people to want to work, because our industry is an industry of work, you have to love work, you have to love hard work, you have to love people, and so this bill has helped us to entertain and create more job opportunities,” Sine said.

She added that not only will this help incentivize people to join the industry, it will also help tipped employees to make more money.

Walberg, who is Education and Workforce Committee chairman, said that when he goes to restaurants, he will write on the receipt, “I love no tax on tips,” which will lead to a discussion with the waiter or waitress about the provision.

“It was more than just the money for them, it was the fact that they were appreciated to be tipped, but also they could make more. They could choose how to make more, and they wouldn’t be just the hourly employee in some of their minds. They were entrepreneurs. They were independent workers,” the congressman said.

How no tax on overtime will impact Utahns

Casey Hill, state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses in Utah, was asked to share how the no tax on overtime provision of the bill will impact Utah’s businesses and employees.

“If you think about the individuals who are typically earning or working overtime, those are typically some of your highest-producing, hardest-working individuals, and to further incentivize them to work and to engage more, take more of their hard-earned dollars home is significant for our employers,” Hill said.

He said that 99% of the state’s employers have less than 500 employees, making Utah a “small business driven state,” meaning that “anything that impacts in a positive way small businesses will impact Utah in a significantly positive way.”

This tax relief will go directly to individuals, allowing them to reinvest that into the economy in a number of ways.

Hill also pointed out that many people talked about how giving tax dollars back to citizens is a loss of revenue for the state or federal government. He said that in most cases that revenue actually goes up because spending and investing increases.