Alarm in the gastro: – attack on tips “cannot be accepted”

Drinking money is in the first place an essential part of wages for gastronomy, but also for taxis or hairdressers. Depending on the industry and the federal states, there are various tax clogs, defined by the Chamber of Commerce (WKö) and Health Insurance Fund (Ögk). According to the government program, the matter must be evaluated and standardized nationally. But there are currently increasing exams and additional claims, industrial representatives complain.

Companies may not be overwhelmed
“Try must remain free of tax and tax,” demands WKö Catering Deler Mario Pulker. Earlier it had the head of the Social -Democratic Wirtschaftverband (SWV) Vienna, Marko Fischer, told: “The fixed sum of the tip was originally intended as a relief for companies to avoid the extensive management of ticks. It cannot be accepted that the ÖGK now simply makes adjustments and that companies threaten high reclaimed. Adjustment may not overwhelm the companies and must take into account the special characteristics of the individual industries.

Warning for rising prices
The Freedom Economy (FW) warned Monday that the “extra financial burden for companies will inevitably lead to rising prices”. FW Gastro-Spokesman Simon Schnell even sees a “targeted attack by the Ögk” on the “hard-developed extra income of the gastro-staff” and try to collect them through employers.

“Tip is a sign of recognition by guests – and now the state reaches as if it is an extra tax source. That is an unbearable burden for the entire industry. Drinking money should remain “100 percent tax”. It is a “guest gift and not a hidden tax source”.

Make card payments Tips from Tips Transparent
The companies are affected by the additional claims of the ÖGK, not from the employees. Of course it is also about one-person companies (EPU). “In the course of the income tax check you can see how much a waiter has a tip about the registration case, because this is increasingly being paid by the card,” Pulker explains.

“The contribution of social security will then be removed.” Especially from Styria he had recently reached information about raised exams in the catering trade. The subsequent claims “partly went to the reach of five digital”.

Pulker: don’t get any money away from employees
For the room of value room, restaurant owner and hotelier -Pulker, this cannot be access in the service industry. “The Ministry of Finance and the Health Insurance Fund cannot stand and take away money from the guest for good performance. It just doesn’t work. “Even if cards are paid, it must stay that way.

After an internal coordination of WKö with representatives from other affected industries, he, Pulker, is currently negotiating with health insurance. The subject is very complex: “In any case, a solution is needed, so that employees are rewarded for their performance at the guest and are not punished by taxing their top performance or making contributions for social security.”

“We are not talking about companies, but about single companies and family businesses that are threatened by the new demands in their economic existence,” said Martina Haslinger-Spitzer, chief of the tourism of SWV Vienna. “Tip is an important part of the income of many employees.”

Worry to find even fewer staff
As Karagöz, SWV hairdresser, referred to the fact that the subject not only meets the companies, but also the customers, but in the end an increased delivery to drinking money is inevitable to increase prices in the company. At the same time, the incentive for employees sinks to work in industries in which the top of the relevant wage component is.

How a solution looks at the end is still open. According to the Pulker, a law or a change in the law is not necessarily necessary.