Only 21 companies from Gorj that operate bars and restaurants have paid tip tax to the state. The total amount collected from Gorj in the period January-August 2023 is minuscule. Each company has to pay, on average, a tip tax of a little over 1,000 lei, in total, for the first 8 months of last year.
Since last year, companies operating in the field of bars and restaurants are obliged to highlight the tip on the tax receipt and to pay the state a 10% tax on the tip. Although the government proposed to collect an exorbitant amount in the form of tip tax when establishing the revenue and expenditure budget, the reality on the ground contrasts with the authorities’ estimates. According to some information requested by the daily “Gorjeanul” of the Gorj County Administration of Public Finances (AJFP) regarding the receipts in the form of tip tax from companies in our county, from the introduction of this tax until the date of submission of the last declaration, only 21 of companies declared the tip tax, the figures being tiny, and probably not even reflecting the reality. “At the level of the Gorj County Administration of Public Finances, a number of 21 taxpayers carrying out activities corresponding to CAEN codes: 55 – “Hotels and other accommodation facilities”, 56 – “Restaurants and other food service activities” , have declared, for the period January-August 2023, tax on the income from the collection of tips in the amount of 23,076 lei”, says the answer sent to our newspaper by the management of AJFP Gorj. A simple mathematical calculation shows us that each company with a bar or restaurant activity out of the 21 declared tip tax to the state, on average, of just over 1,000 lei for all 8 months analyzed. If we take the calculation even deeper, it turns out that each company declared, on average, a monthly tax on tips of almost 137 lei.
Liable to fines
The government included 95 million lei in the budget for last year from tip taxation, an amount it considered at the time to be a pessimistic estimate. A tip is understood as any amount of money voluntarily offered by the customer, in addition to the value of the goods delivered or the services provided by the economic operators carrying out activities corresponding to CAEN codes: 5610 – «Restaurants», 5630 – «Bars and other activities of serving drinks”. The tax is declared through form D100, “Declaration regarding payment obligations to the state budget” – tax on income from other sources. From the beginning of 2023, bars and restaurants are obliged to highlight the tip both on the bill and on the tax receipt. The amounts from the tip must be distributed in full to the employees, and the money from this source of the employees is considered income with withholding tax, without being included in the basis for calculating the social insurance contribution and without entering the scope of VAT. Failure to comply with the provisions related to tipping will be considered a misdemeanor, sanctioned with a fine between 2,000 lei and 4,000 lei. For the economic operators foreseen, the tip collected from customers is highlighted on the tax receipt, regardless of the method of its collection. Economic operators have the obligation to hand the customer a payment note, prior to the issuance of the tax receipt, in which there are sections intended for the customer to choose the level of tip offered, between 0% and 15% of the consumption value. The payment note must also contain another column in which the customer can enter the amount offered as a tip, in absolute value, if he opts for this way of determining the value of the tip given. It is forbidden for economic operators to condition, in any form, the delivery of goods or the provision of services on the granting of a tip.
Izabella Molnar
Tags: failure tip tax Gorj lei declared Breaking local news video news
