United Auto Workers files federal labor charges against Trump and Musk over union busting commentsRebecca Picciotto, CNBC.com and Lora Kolodny, CNBCAugust 13, 2024 at 9:33 AMElon Musk,…

While the policy could address some immediate concerns of service and hospitality workers, it has sparked significant debate over its budgetary implications, fairness, and potential impacts on the broader labor market.

During a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, Harris unveiled her proposal to end taxes on tips, positioning it as a potential cornerstone of her forthcoming economic platform. “It is my promise to everyone here: When I am President, we will continue our fight for working families of America, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” she said at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

A Harris campaign official tells TIME that the proposal would require legislation and that she would push for it alongside an increase in the minimum wage: “As President, she would work with Congress to craft a proposal that comes with an income limit and with strict requirements to prevent hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation in ways to try to take advantage of the policy,” the official says.

Read More: The Reintroduction of Kamala Harris

Harris’s proposal comes after Trump floated a similar policy in June, after he had a conversation with a Las Vegas waitress that highlighted the financial burden of taxed tips. “To those hotel workers and people who get tips, you are going to be very happy, because when I get to office we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips,” Trump said at a rally. “We’re going to do that right away, first thing in office.”

Trump has accused Harris of borrowing his policy for political gain. “This was a TRUMP idea—She has no ideas, she can only steal from me,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday, branding Harris as “Copy Cat Kamala.” Trump’s campaign has also said Harris’s stance contradicts the Biden Administration’s previous proposals to establish a voluntary tip-reporting program.

Economists say the proposed elimination of taxes on tips could have profound effects on both federal revenue and the labor market.

The Center for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimated that Harris’ proposal to exempt tip income from federal income taxes and raise the minimum wage would increase deficits by $100 billion to $200 billion over the next decade, while the Trump proposal to nix federal taxes on tips could cost up to $250 billion. The conservative-leaning Tax Foundation estimated that removing taxes on tips could cost around $107 billion over the next decade by lowering income and payroll tax revenues that currently support Social Security and Medicare. The potential shortfall has raised concerns about how such a policy would impact the already strained federal budget.

But advocates argue that eliminating taxes on tips would alleviate a financial burden on service workers, many of whom rely on tips for their livelihoods. Currently, tips are considered taxable income, which requires both accurate reporting by workers and enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS has struggled with compliance and enforcement, leading to ongoing debates about the fairness and feasibility of taxing tips.

An estimated 4 million workers regularly receive tips—less than 3% of the overall workforce, according to an analysis by Yale University’s Budget Lab. The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour, but they are required to make at least the federal hourly minimum wage of $7.25 with tips or their employers have to cover the difference.

Detractors believe that the policy would exacerbate existing inequities in the tax system. Andrew Lautz, associate director for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s economic policy program, cautions that the policy might create a two-tiered system where tipped workers enjoy a substantial tax advantage over their non-tipped counterparts, a disparity that could distort wage structures and incentivize employers to shift more compensation to tips to benefit from lower tax rates.

“Are we to say that someone making $18 an hour at a fast food job, versus someone making $18 an hour inclusive of tips at a sit-down restaurant, that those workers should be treated differently from a tax perspective?” Lautz asks. “Policymakers need to carefully consider what it means for fairness in the U.S. economy and in the jobs that people seek out.”

For example, the policy might drive more industries—like grocery stores—to adopt tipping practices similar to those in the restaurant sector, thereby increasing the overall cost of the policy. The proposal could also lead to increased pressure on workers to solicit tips, potentially leading to less predictable and less stable income.

Lautz also raised concerns about the administrative challenges of implementing such a policy.   “There’s always the potential for misuse or abuse of rules like this,” he says. “The intent is not to have high paid lawyers and accountants re-classify their income as tips and escape some level of taxation.” He says that Congress would need to either write specific rules or direct the IRS to write provisions that limit misuse or abuse of the no tax on tips policy.

Both the Harris and Trump campaigns have yet to release detailed policy proposals, leaving many questions unanswered about how their plans would be implemented and financed. The next administration will face significant challenges in navigating these issues, particularly as major sections of the 2017 tax cuts are set to expire and broader tax reform discussions loom.

Still, exempting tip income has already gained bipartisan traction on Capitol Hill. In July, Democratic Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada signed onto the No Tax on Tips Act that Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas proposed. A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives.

President Joe Biden also supports eliminating taxes on tips, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. The Culinary Workers Union, a powerful Nevada labor union, had initially called the proposal by Trump a “wild campaign promise” but has since come out in support of the general idea.

Write to Nik Popli at [email protected].

While the policy could address some immediate concerns of service and hospitality workers, it has sparked significant debate over its budgetary implications, fairness, and potential impacts on the broader labor market.

During a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, Harris unveiled her proposal to end taxes on tips, positioning it as a potential cornerstone of her forthcoming economic platform. “It is my promise to everyone here: When I am President, we will continue our fight for working families of America, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” she said at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

A Harris campaign official tells TIME that the proposal would require legislation and that she would push for it alongside an increase in the minimum wage: “As President, she would work with Congress to craft a proposal that comes with an income limit and with strict requirements to prevent hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation in ways to try to take advantage of the policy,” the official says.

Read More: The Reintroduction of Kamala Harris

Harris’s proposal comes after Trump floated a similar policy in June, after he had a conversation with a Las Vegas waitress that highlighted the financial burden of taxed tips. “To those hotel workers and people who get tips, you are going to be very happy, because when I get to office we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips,” Trump said at a rally. “We’re going to do that right away, first thing in office.”

Trump has accused Harris of borrowing his policy for political gain. “This was a TRUMP idea—She has no ideas, she can only steal from me,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday, branding Harris as “Copy Cat Kamala.” Trump’s campaign has also said Harris’s stance contradicts the Biden Administration’s previous proposals to establish a voluntary tip-reporting program.

Economists say the proposed elimination of taxes on tips could have profound effects on both federal revenue and the labor market.

The Center for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimated that Harris’ proposal to exempt tip income from federal income taxes and raise the minimum wage would increase deficits by $100 billion to $200 billion over the next decade, while the Trump proposal to nix federal taxes on tips could cost up to $250 billion. The conservative-leaning Tax Foundation estimated that removing taxes on tips could cost around $107 billion over the next decade by lowering income and payroll tax revenues that currently support Social Security and Medicare. The potential shortfall has raised concerns about how such a policy would impact the already strained federal budget.

But advocates argue that eliminating taxes on tips would alleviate a financial burden on service workers, many of whom rely on tips for their livelihoods. Currently, tips are considered taxable income, which requires both accurate reporting by workers and enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS has struggled with compliance and enforcement, leading to ongoing debates about the fairness and feasibility of taxing tips.

An estimated 4 million workers regularly receive tips—less than 3% of the overall workforce, according to an analysis by Yale University’s Budget Lab. The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour, but they are required to make at least the federal hourly minimum wage of $7.25 with tips or their employers have to cover the difference.

Detractors believe that the policy would exacerbate existing inequities in the tax system. Andrew Lautz, associate director for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s economic policy program, cautions that the policy might create a two-tiered system where tipped workers enjoy a substantial tax advantage over their non-tipped counterparts, a disparity that could distort wage structures and incentivize employers to shift more compensation to tips to benefit from lower tax rates.

“Are we to say that someone making $18 an hour at a fast food job, versus someone making $18 an hour inclusive of tips at a sit-down restaurant, that those workers should be treated differently from a tax perspective?” Lautz asks. “Policymakers need to carefully consider what it means for fairness in the U.S. economy and in the jobs that people seek out.”

For example, the policy might drive more industries—like grocery stores—to adopt tipping practices similar to those in the restaurant sector, thereby increasing the overall cost of the policy. The proposal could also lead to increased pressure on workers to solicit tips, potentially leading to less predictable and less stable income.

Lautz also raised concerns about the administrative challenges of implementing such a policy.   “There’s always the potential for misuse or abuse of rules like this,” he says. “The intent is not to have high paid lawyers and accountants re-classify their income as tips and escape some level of taxation.” He says that Congress would need to either write specific rules or direct the IRS to write provisions that limit misuse or abuse of the no tax on tips policy.

Both the Harris and Trump campaigns have yet to release detailed policy proposals, leaving many questions unanswered about how their plans would be implemented and financed. The next administration will face significant challenges in navigating these issues, particularly as major sections of the 2017 tax cuts are set to expire and broader tax reform discussions loom.

Still, exempting tip income has already gained bipartisan traction on Capitol Hill. In July, Democratic Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada signed onto the No Tax on Tips Act that Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas proposed. A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives.

President Joe Biden also supports eliminating taxes on tips, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. The Culinary Workers Union, a powerful Nevada labor union, had initially called the proposal by Trump a “wild campaign promise” but has since come out in support of the general idea.

Write to Nik Popli at [email protected].

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In 2023 there were nearly 40 million people living with HIV. Some 30.7 million of them receive antiretroviral treatment. Despite recent advances in preventing infections, more than a million people are expected to become newly infected in 2024. More than 600,000 will die of HIV/AIDS.

But a handful of people have now been cured, thanks to recent breakthroughs in treatment.

We speak with experts who first identified HIV/AIDS about the progress in countering the disease. We investigate new therapies that exploit the HIV-resistant genetics of donated stem cells, or prevent HIV infections in the first place. And we hold heartfelt conversations with HIV survivors who are growing their own healthy families and engaging with the community to promote HIV/AIDS awareness.

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In 2023 there were nearly 40 million people living with HIV. Some 30.7 million of them receive antiretroviral treatment. Despite recent advances in preventing infections, more than a million people are expected to become newly infected in 2024. More than 600,000 will die of HIV/AIDS.

But a handful of people have now been cured, thanks to recent breakthroughs in treatment.

We speak with experts who first identified HIV/AIDS about the progress in countering the disease. We investigate new therapies that exploit the HIV-resistant genetics of donated stem cells, or prevent HIV infections in the first place. And we hold heartfelt conversations with HIV survivors who are growing their own healthy families and engaging with the community to promote HIV/AIDS awareness.

RELATED STORY | Virginia man becomes 3rd HIV-positive person to donate his heart since HOPE Act

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When the two NASA astronauts arrived June 6 at the International Space Station, they thought they had merely a week or so ahead of them before they would return to Earth on the Boeing Starliner that brought them there.

But that was more than two months ago. And not only are Wilmore and Williams still on the space station, but it may not be until next year that they return.

NASA announced Wednesday that if the troubles ailing the beleaguered Starliner capsule – built with the intention of running crews and deliveries regularly to the station – are not remedied to satisfaction, its two-person crew may instead come home in February aboard a SpaceX Dragon.

If it comes to that, Wilmore and Williams are perfectly safe and capable of hanging out in orbit for the long-haul, NASA officials assured reporters during a Wednesday news conference. In fact, such lengthy stays are not only common on the space station, but the pair of astronauts would hardly be the first whose scheduled return date to Earth was postponed.

Here’s what to know about at least one other astronaut whose stay aboard the International Space Station was significantly lengthened, and how long the orbital stints typically last.

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