Couple Gives Texas Waiter $5,000 Tip to Buy a New Car
- Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:10am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Greg Rubar’s car was recently destroyed in thunderstorms in the Houston area. The waiter at D’Amico’s Italian Market in Rice Village, TX, was in need of new car, then. Enter some of his regular customers.
Over the weekend, Rubar was working at the market where he’s been for the last 16 years. That’s when a couple who frequents the restaurant gave him quite the surprise. KHOU-TV explains:
Over the weekend a married couple, who are his regular customers, handed him the big tip.
“I told them thank you when they gave it to me, I knew it was money, but I didn’t know how much,” he said. “Maybe like a half hour after they left I went in the bathroom and I opened it, and looked at it and I could tell it was $5,000 because it was still wrapped, it still had the band on it from the bank.”
Here he is explaining it in his own words:
(H/T: Daily Mail)
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deano24
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:39pmAt least it’s $5,000 more than what Mr. Mark Zuckerberg & his wife left at a restaurant in Rome.
Report Post »alpha2omega47
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 2:29pmNice story. Nice to know that there are still some nice people in this world. Eat your heart out liberals. :-)
Report Post »Shifty6
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:43amI like how everyone’s first thought is to NOT claim the tip as income to the IRS, and they think this guy will certainly not claim it.
Report Post »Cloth Stews
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 12:28pmThey are entitled to give a gift of up to 13,000 without it being subjected to income taxes.
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:40amI have eaten at D‘amico’s Italian Market…..good foot when I went there….haven’t been there in a while but I guess it is still good food. The whole RICE village area is a neat area. There are many people living around there that can surely tip 5000 dollars and not feel it at all.
Report Post »facilitiesmgr
Posted on May 31, 2012 at 12:08pmThe point about whether someone can “afford” to give a tip like that isn’t the point. The point is that someone did something extraordinary for someone in need without thought of repayment. That is generosity at it’s finest.
Report Post »forthepeople
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:49amWhat ? problem solved without the government ? stop , investigate , fine him, there must be something the authorities can do to stop this behavior !
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:09amThe IRS says: TIPS are Income…
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:27amAnd you can only “gift” so much before it’s an inheritance.
Report Post »deerfawn
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 3:16pmand many places make their waiter and waitresses put tips in a pot and share the wealth. Tips are also income.
Report Post »1WhoQuestions
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:40amIt’s great we live in a country where this can happen. It’s sad the first thing we think of is “What are the tax implications?”
It may have been better for them to buy a used car and sell it to him for $1.00.
Report Post »PPMStudios
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 9:49amUncle Sam will soon be coming for his cut. I wonder if The Blaze will cover for him since they’ve exposed him?
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:34amthats exactly what I was going to say. why say hey I got 5k cash, it just opens up for the irs to come collecting. now he can buy half a car
Report Post »Yeah_Buddy
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:48amThey only need to declare about 7 to 8% of their sales as tip income, additional to hourly wage earned. Those greedy part-time waiters need to pay their fair share, eh.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 9:36amI wouldn’t be surprised if in the near future acts of generosity were illegal.
Report Post »The feds want everyone on the government teet and they don’t like competition.
It‘s much better if government is the sugar daddy because It’s much easier to control
The populace.
2AM
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:56amWAY TO GO, BLAZE. Now he will get a visit from the IRS.
Report Post »troymac20
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 1:42pmActually it was KHOU in Houston that just outed him.
Report Post »Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:53amThose evil corporate jet flying 1%-er waiters!
Report Post »PCsince1776
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:51amMeanwhile Face Book Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg allegedly leaves no tips while on honeymoon.
Report Post »SocialistSlayer
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:50amThe best way to help each other is to do it directly – Bypass all the phony chariities with their $500,000 CEO’s and big Limos – Go to DC and see all the big Suv’s driven by the Red Cross! Nothing but scams!
Report Post »pavnvet
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 9:07amBoy you said it when it comes to the Red Cross. The President of the Red Cross makes over a million dollars a year! I wouldn’t give a red cent to them. Every time they go to a disaster they look for reimbursement from the government.
Report Post »BeingThere
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 9:22amYeah, if I had half the money they‘ve collected on the MD telethon I’d find a cure myself! Maybe mix up some household chemicals, probably only take a couple weeks!!!
Report Post »Conservative New Yorker
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:36amDitto about the Red Cross. Many years ago we helped to raise money to assist local residents who were hard hit by a natural occurrence. We did this by hosting an event and donating part of the proceeds to the Red Cross to help these people. We incurred all the expenses and did all the work- all the RC did was show up to collect their loot.
We found out that all of the money was applied towards their administrative costs- the victims never saw one red cent or any assistance. I was in my twenties and idealistic as I actually believed that the Red Cross would use the money to help those in our community. That was a rude awakening.
Never have supported this sham of an organization since and I make sure I let others know about it.
Report Post »Mr Sanders
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:47amPrime example of Capitalism at work, of giving heart(s), and freedom of choice TO give, not to be told to give to ‘some kind’ of ‘change’ via the IRS [penalize] or purchasing a carbon credit, but give toward ‘real’ change – it changed Greg’s life.
Giving toward a real need is so self empowering – witnessed it many times, up close and from afar. I too am very glad that gifting w/o strings attached but ‘love’ given is still alive and well.
Its a flash-gift! :-)
Report Post »moussiagilda
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:46amAre we having huge fun or what? What. What.
Report Post »Joss
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:44amYeah. This is the America I love.
Report Post »patriotone
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:39amI wonder if he is responsible for paying taxes on his new TIP. Does the restaurant require he share his normal tips with other wait staff? Many do. Do the Blaze readers realize that taxes are taken on 15% of every meal EVEN IF A TIP IS NOT LEFT or is less than 15%?? Ron Paul supports tax free tips that would allow this young man to keep his entire 5k without committing tax fraud (not reporting tips that are taxable is, indeed, fraud). If he is not required to share his tip with other staff then more power to him. Let’s just hope no one reports his TIP for tax purposes. Oh wait, failing to report is also a crime. Maybe Mittens will fix that too, I hear he has a 59 point plan or something.
Report Post »neiman1
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:52amYour post has many errors. A restaurant may withhold taxes assuming a 15% rate if that is their historical statistics for that business. The IRS assumes an 8% rate based on your sales unless evidence shows otherwise.
The withheld amount is just like withholding on any other paycheck. It is not the taxes owed. The withheld amount is a credit on a waiters tax form that is refunded if taxes are not owed. If any individual waiter is receiving less than the assumed amount they can show that on their tax form and receive credit for lower income. The problem comes if the IRS audits the receipts in the establishment (usually using credit card receipts) and finds your lying. Then the tax will come with penalties.
If you receive more than the assumed rate of tips the law actually requires every taxpayer (including waiters) to report the additional taxes owed. Failure to do so is a violation of the law. Phoney taxes rates on estimated wages creates tax cheats of millions and adds to disrespect for all tax laws.
Report Post »SLOWBIDEN
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 9:56amI don’t know why the customer is responsible for paying the employees salary. If restaurants payed their employees better you would get better service and they would have higher retention rates.
Report Post »brotherjohn
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:35amIt’s not a tip, it’s a gift. The tax code allows one person to give another person up to $15,000 per year tax free. This is a non-issue.
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:09amSlowbiden is a moron. He should be forced to work as a waiter for 30 days and give the service he expects from other waiters. Most of these people are underpaid and work their a$$es off.
Report Post »Fubared
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:29amDaily occurance in Detroit and San Fran. Oh wait they gave him money, nevermind. Nice peeps…
Report Post »Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:23amLiberals hate these stories.. Progs want to take the $5,000 and turn it into $500 for the kid, $1,000 for their friends and $3500 for themselves.
Report Post »This is after they taxed the original sum down from $8000 to the $5000 that was given by the couple!
mama6
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:22amThat just goes to show that hard work really does pay off!!! Be kind to people because you never know where you might see them next!!!
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:12amGood advice. Real professionals understand the value of repeat business.
Report Post »alrunner58
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:22amNow that’s a story.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:16amIt‘s good to see generosity hasn’t died yet but I‘m sure the IRS will want their ’fair share’.
Report Post »johnjamison
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:25amActually you can give a one time tax free gift of less than 20,000…I think?
Report Post »c.parker
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:28amIt is sad that you are right.
Report Post »moussiagilda
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:52amIt’s so sah-aadd. That’s what the dopey young girls used to say. Sahhh-ahh-aadd.
While I personally live in a world where the word “sad” doesn’t exist.
Report Post »Dom321
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 10:04amCertainly a beautiful act of human decency. But, I would have thanked them profusely next time they came in and kept my mouth shut.
Report Post »Inviting the IRS is never a good thing, although like Johnjamison said, there is an exception for gifts under a certain amount.
teahugger
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 8:16amTrickle down economics at its finest.
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:14am“Trickle UP economics” is more accurate in America. Pay people $7/hr and charge them $70/hr.
Report Post »