Reporting tips and meals

Tips employees receive in connection with services performed are subject to contributions and must be reported. Employers are required to advise their employees that they have the right to certify to the amount of tips they receive. A certification is a signed and dated statement furnished by the employee to the employer not less than once each calendar quarter indicating the amount of tips received.

The reasonable cash value of board, rent, housing, or lodging is subject to contributions and must be reported. An employer may not report a lower cash value for meals and lodging than the value placed on them in complying with minimum wage orders.

Further information is available in the Labor Department's pamphlet, Reporting Meals, Lodging, Tips and Other Forms of Remuneration, IA 318.15.