How Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill Stiffed Tipped Workers

Several of President Donald Trump’s key campaign promises were written into the new Republican law which slashes federal benefits and implements tax breaks for primarily higher-income Americans. One of the more touted provisions, the elimination of federal income taxes on tips for certain workers, is intended as a fulfillment of a pledge that he adopted in part to win the swing state of Nevada—which has the highest proportion of workers in the service and hospitality industries of any state.

But Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” may not deliver the goods. As it stands, the newly enacted law would benefit only a small percentage of American workers overall, and exclude the lowest-income tipped workers. Workers will be able to deduct up to $25,000 annually from their taxable income, although it begins phasing out for individuals earning $150,000 per year, or $300,000 for joint filers.

“Tipped workers loom larger in our imagination, because they’re often the interface that we have with the service sector. But behind them are just a vast majority of workers that are not tipped at all, and so regardless of how much they make, they’re not going to see any benefit from this,” said Ernie Tedeschi, the director of the Yale Budget Lab. Only around 4 million American workers are in tipped occupations, roughly 2 and a half percent of all employment. Moreover, of the lowest-earning workers in the country, only about 5 percent worked in tipped occupations, according to research by the Yale Budget Lab.

The provision is emblematic of one the law’s defining characteristics: An emphasis on providing relief for middle- and higher-income Americans, while low-income families bear the brunt of dramatic cuts to food stamps and Medicaid, and are unable to fully benefit from key tax provisions. The legislation modestly expanded the child tax credit and indexed it to inflation, but it is not fully refundable, and thus the lowest-income Americans will be unable to receive the whole credit. Similarly, provisions ending taxes on overtime pay and a reduction to standard tax deduction for seniors would provide limited benefits to the lowest-income Americans who do not have sufficient tax liability to claim the deductions.