[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1921 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1921

 To provide that the provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
 on the accounting of tips in determining the wage of tipped employees 
 shall preempt any State or local provision precluding a tip credit or 
requiring a tip credit less than the tip credit provided under such Act 
  and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that tips 
    received for certain services shall not be subject to income or 
                           employment taxes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 1999

Mr. Bilbray (for himself and Mr. McKeon, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Cox, and Mr. 
   Ehrlich) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide that the provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
 on the accounting of tips in determining the wage of tipped employees 
 shall preempt any State or local provision precluding a tip credit or 
requiring a tip credit less than the tip credit provided under such Act 
  and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that tips 
    received for certain services shall not be subject to income or 
                           employment taxes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tip Credit Protection Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. PREEMPTION.

    Section 18 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 218) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) No law, ordinance, regulation, or order established or 
enforced by a State or political subdivision of a State shall--
            ``(1) preclude a tip credit, or
            ``(2) prohibit an employer from applying a tip credit,
as authorized by section 3(m) if the employer pays cash wages to tipped 
employees that are not less than the minimum cash wage required by such 
law, ordinance, regulation, or order of a State or political 
subdivision of a State on the date of the enactment of this 
subsection.''.

SEC. 3. TIPS RECEIVED FOR CERTAIN SERVICES NOT SUBJECT TO INCOME OR 
              EMPLOYMENT TAXES.

    (a) In General.--Section 102 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to gifts and inheritances) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Tips Received for Certain Services.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (a), tips 
        received by an individual for qualified services performed by 
        such individual shall be treated as property transferred by 
        gift.
            ``(2) Qualified services.--For purposes of this subsection, 
        the term `qualified services' means cosmetology, hospitality 
        (including lodging and food and beverage services), recreation, 
        taxi, newspaper deliveries and shoe shine services.
            ``(3) Annual limit.--The amount excluded from gross income 
        for the taxable year by reason of paragraph (1) with respect to 
        each service provider shall not exceed $10,000.
            ``(4) Employee taxable on at least minimum wage.--Paragraph 
        (1) shall not apply to tips received by an employee during any 
        month to the extent that such tips--
                    ``(A) are deemed to have been paid by the employer 
                to the employee pursuant to section 3121(q) (without 
                regard to whether such tips are reported under section 
                6053), and
                    ``(B) do not exceed the excess of--
                            ``(i) the minimum wage rate applicable to 
                        such individual under section 6(a)(1) of the 
                        Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (determined 
                        without regard to section 3(m) of such Act), 
                        over
                            ``(ii) the amount of the wages (excluding 
                        tips) paid by the employer to the employee 
                        during such month.
            ``(5) Tips.--For purposes of this title, the term `tips' 
        means a gratuity paid by an individual for services performed 
        for such individual (or for a group which includes such 
        individual) by another individual if such services are not 
        provided pursuant to an employment or similar contractual 
        relationship between such individuals.''
    (b) Exclusion From Social Security Taxes.--
            (1) Paragraph (12) of section 3121(a) of such Code is 
        amended to read as follows:
            ``(12)(A) tips paid in any medium other than cash;
            ``(B) cash tips received by an employee in any calendar 
        month in the course of his employment by an employer unless the 
        amount of such cash tips is $20 or more and then only to the 
        extent includible in gross income after the application of 
        section 102(d);''.
            (2) Paragraph (10) of section 209(a) of the Social Security 
        Act is amended to read as follows:
            ``(10)(A) tips paid in any medium other than cash;
            ``(B) cash tips received by an employee in any calendar 
        month in the course of his employment by an employer unless the 
        amount of such cash tips is $20 or more and then only to the 
        extent includible in gross income after the application of 
        section 102(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for such 
        month;''.
            (3) Paragraph (3) of section 3231(e) of such Code is 
        amended to read as follows:
            ``(3) Solely for purposes of the taxes imposed by section 
        3201 and other provisions of this chapter insofar as they 
        relate to such taxes, the term `compensation' also includes 
        cash tips received by an employee in any calendar month in the 
        course of his employment by an employer if the amount of such 
        cash tips is $20 or more and then only to the extent includible 
        in gross income after the application of section 102(d).''.
    (c) Exclusion From Unemployment Compensation Taxes.--Subsection (s) 
of section 3306 of such Code is amended to read as follows:
    ``(s) Tips Not Treated as Wages.--For purposes of this chapter, the 
term `wages' shall include tips received in any month only to the 
extent includible in gross income after the application of section 
102(d) for such month.''
    (d) Exclusion From Wage Withholding.--Paragraph (16) of section 
3401(a) of such Code is amended to read as follows:
            ``(16)(A) as tips in any medium other than cash;
            ``(B) as cash tips to an employee in any calendar month in 
        the course of his employment by an employer unless the amount 
        of such cash tips is $20 or more and then only to the extent 
        includible in gross income after the application of section 
        102(d);''
    (e) Conforming Amendment.--Sections 32(c)(2)(A)(i) and 220(b)(4)(A) 
of such Code are each amended by striking ``tips'' and inserting ``tips 
to the extent includible in gross income after the application of 
section 102(d))''.
    (f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to tips received after the calendar month which includes the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
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