Millions of US restaurant servers and bartenders could potentially save more than $4,400 in taxes this year under a new federal law. However, tax experts warn that many workers are at risk of missing out because the IRS has not updated its forms, leaving employees to manually track their tips using personal records.
The IRS published official guidance in Bulletin No. 2025-50 today, confirming that the 2025 W-2 forms will not display tip breakdowns. Instead, workers must calculate their eligible tips themselves, relying on Box 7 on their W-2, old tip reports, or personal logs. But many servers do not keep consistent records, according to Mark O'Saben, a tax expert quoted by USA Today.
