Catering: tax exemption for tips to increase remuneration

Jean-Luc Boujon 1:13 p.m., September 27, 2021

The restoration lacks manpower. The problem is far from new but has worsened after the coronavirus crisis and cafetiers and restaurateurs are struggling to recruit. They who asked for new support measures from the government welcomed the new initiative announced by Emmanuel Macron on Monday, while the president was visiting the International Restaurant, Hotel and Food Fair (Sirha) in Lyon. . Tips paid by credit card in cafes and restaurants will be tax-exempt.

This new measure should come into force in the coming months and should make it possible to motivate staff who have moved away from the restaurant industry with the crisis to return to the kitchen and the dining room.

Because the situation is really very complicated.

"To be very concrete, out of 75 people, I am missing 22", blows the Lyon chef Christian Têtedoie.

"This is part of the measures we expected. This crisis has had a huge impact on us so we need to upgrade the salaries of our employees."

Tips "free of charge" and simplified

These tips will be "without charge" for employers and "without tax for the employees who receive them", confirmed Emmanuel Macron. "It's only positive." Above all, they can be more easily integrated in the event of payment by credit card or via an application, which again pleases catering professionals. “Unfortunately, tips were going down because people only paid by card or through apps,” he notes. "So this is good news, it will automatically increase purchasing power."

The detractors of the measure, them, stress that if the purchasing power increases, it is important not to confuse such a measure with a salary increase.

Exempt from contributions, tips therefore count neither for Social Security nor for pension rights.

For their part, restaurateurs would also like the president and the government to go even further in terms of lowering contributions, again to cope with the labor shortage.