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These Scrooges refuse to act on a hot tip.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic New York lawmakers haven’t extended President Trump’s “no tax on tips” policy to state income taxes — hitting bartenders and restaurant workers in the pocketbook all while preaching affordability.
The inaction galled Rion Gallagher, 30, a bartender at The Blasket, an Irish pub in Midtown, on Friday.
“Screw her,” Gallagher said about Hochul.
“If we weren’t taxed on our tips, we’d be able to save more, we’d enjoy life a little more, maybe we wouldn’t have to pick up that extra shift.”
The “no tax on tips” policy, along with a related deduction for overtime, was a key worker-friendly provision of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” narrowly passed by Republicans this year.
Treasury Department officials extended the federal tax break for nearly 70 jobs and professions, from taxi drivers to golf caddies (but not pornographic OnlyFans creators) — but the obvious beneficiaries were food and beverage service workers often dependent on tips.
Qualified service workers can now deduct up to $12,500 of tip income a year on their federal taxes, while hourly workers can do the same for $12,500 of overtime pay. The break jumps to $25,000 in both cases if filing as a married couple, and is effective for tax years 2025-28.
But while many states either proactively or automatically matched the cuts, several others held out against extending the deduction, including New York — to the dismay of service industry workers.
“It’s disgraceful. People live off of tips,” said Zoe Kalodimos, 30, a waitress at Embassy Diner in Bethpage, Long Island, who said she helps out at home as the eldest of five siblings.
“For [Hochul] to do that is just, it’s disheartening. It’s upsetting,” said Kalodimos, who takes home $3 on an $8 gratuity.
Kalodimos said she loses roughly $1,000 a month on taxes from tips — which she told The Post are hard-earned for going above and beyond while serving “hundreds” of customers per shift.
“It’s like losing money. So it’s hard, especially when everything’s so expensive in life right now. That’s my livelihood, that’s how I eat and feed my family.”
Jackie Puttre, a manager at P. McDaid’s Irish Pub in Midtown for a couple of years and a server for 37, also had some choice words for state lawmakers.
“Their hands are in everything and finally they’re doing some good and they passed the bill and now the state comes and screws you. It’s like, what are we doing? Just leave it to Kathy Hochul to do that,” said Puttre, a Trump supporter.
“Thanks for nothing,” she told Hochul.
Several servers coyly lamented the declining use of cash, which used to provide an ignorance-is-bliss workaround to getting their tips taxed.
“I get most tips from credit cards, so that means everything is getting taxed,” said David Aju, a server at Anatoly 56 Greek Taverna in Midtown.
“Honestly, if my check comes out good, but then they take out a lot of taxes, it’s bad for us.”
Hannah Teal, 33, who tends bar at George and Jack’s Tap Room in Williamsburg, said she only brought home $40,000 after taxes last year.
“It sucks to be taxed! That’s why we love cash tips!” Teal joked, noting she could’ve taken home $3,000 more if not for state taxes, adding she’d be “ecstatic” if Hochul reversed course.
“How do you survive on $40,000 in New York City? You don’t!”
“Affordability” has become a recent rallying cry for Democrats, especially after the meteoric rise of democratic socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Hochul herself jumped onto the affordability bandwagon, doling out “inflation refund checks” up to $400 and pushing a child tax credit — even as she backed a $9 congestion toll for cars entering Manhattan and other measures hitting New Yorkers in the wallet.
She notably did not push to match Trump’s tip and overtime deductions, despite state Sen. George Borrello (R-Jamestown) proposing bills to do so for New Yorker taxpayers.
New York pols have balked at giving up more than $1 billion in revenue from tips and overtime, Reuters first reported. A spokesperson for Hochul disputed that report Friday and said the state was still evaluating the issue.
Whether Mamdani as mayor will seek relief for tip-reliant workers remains to be seen.
A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Finance didn’t comment on whether local income taxes for such workers could be changed.
“Conversations are ongoing and will be decided upon in the new year,” the spokesperson said.
Tatiana Cruz, 25, a bartender at Teddy’s in Williamsburg, said getting taxed is always annoying as it cuts into the $400 in tips she makes on a good night.
But she said making better wages would be better than relying on tips.
“I think every restaurant should pay servers livable wages, so we don’t have to depend on tips,” Cruz said.
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John Winterman, owner of Francie restaurant in Williamsburg, argued if eateries got tax breaks they’d be able to better pay their workers.
“If [Hochul’s] not working to help restaurants get the tax breaks they need, it’s an uphill battle for us,” Winterman said.
Wait staff will definitely move out of New York City if the state doesn’t match the tip no-tax, said Sammy Musovic, owner of Sojourn Social on the Upper East Side.
“I was really looking forward to that tip credit,” he said, before criticizing Hochul. “She’s not thinking of small businesses when she’s making these decisions.
“Eighty percent of [servers’] income comes from tips — that would have been a big boost for them. It would have helped us to retain employees.”
The foot-dragging prompted Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to caustically accuse New York and other liberal states of “political obstructionism” by deliberately blocking residents from reaping the benefit.
“This partisan stonewalling is a direct assault on the very families and workers liberal politicians claim to champion,” he said in a statement.
Sensing blood in the water, Nassau County executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman argued Hochul had yet again gouged New Yorkers.
“Kathy Hochul is sticking it to the service industry by blocking real tax relief on tips and overtime – costing servers up to $3,000 a year,” Blakeman told the Post.
A spokesperson for Hochul appeared to leave the door open to stop taxing tips and overtime.
“We will continue finding ways to put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets and will evaluate federal changes in the context of the upcoming budget, just like red and blue states across the country,” a spokesperson for the governor said.
— Additional reporting by Jeanette Settembre, Ella Morrison and Hannah Fierick
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