A survey commissioned by DailyPay and the Bipartisan Policy Center conducted by The Harris Poll among over 1,000 tipped employees (defined as those who work in the service industry and earn tips for their job) reveals that a “significant majority of tipped employees (85%) are aware of discussions about eliminating federal taxes on tips.”
Importantly, the research findings show broader “interest in financial stability and policy proposals among the approximately 4 million U.S. workers who rely on tipped wages.”
According to the survey, 86% of tipped employees “support the campaign proposal to remove federal taxes on tips.”
Nearly eight in ten (79%) tipped employees “express confidence that the new administration will follow through on this campaign proposal, though it would require Congressional action to become law and would not impact the millions of hourly workers who earn most of their income through regular wages.”
A majority 96% of tipped employees believe “their financial situation would change if tip income were tax-exempt.”
Though in reality, this would depend on how the “exemption is structured and there are many other policies that could support workers—whether their income is primarily through tips or regular wages.”
Many tipped employees say if the proposal to “eliminate federal tax on tips was passed they would be able to save toward a specific goal (48%), pay down debt (42%), and have enough money to cover their bills (42%).”
Lettie Nocera, Director of the American Savings Education Council at the Bipartisan Policy Center said:
“These findings underscore workers’ concerns about financial stability and the role that bipartisan policy can play in improving economic security. Expanding access to an array of financial supports—such as the child tax credit, earned wage access, private retirement accounts, and emergency savings solutions—could benefit all workers and their employers.”
As discussions around tax policy and worker benefits continue, the Bipartisan Policy Center and DailyPay remain “committed to providing research-driven insights.”
Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on “behalf of DailyPay and the Bipartisan Policy Center from January 15-21, 2025, among 1,012 U.S. adults ages 18 and older who are employed in the service industry and earn tips for their job.”
The sampling precision of Harris online polls is “measured by using a Bayesian credible interval.”
For this study, the sample data is accurate “to within +/- 4.2 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.”
This credible interval will be wider “among subsets of the surveyed population of interest.”
As covered, DailyPay says that it is transforming “the way people get paid.”
As a worktech company and the industry’s earned wage access solution, DailyPay uses technology platform to “help America’s top employers build stronger relationships with their employees.”
This voluntary employee benefit enables workers everywhere “to feel more motivated to work harder and stay longer on the job while supporting their financial well-being outside of the workplace.”
DailyPay is headquartered in New York City.
