Disappointed with Cinderella Royal Castle

[NYCgrrl]

I never really did any waitress type work, but I have always wondered, when wait staff are tipped in cash, there is no way it can be traced, correct? I mean it would just have to be on the "honor" system wouldn't it?

Honor system in what sense? Paying your taxes? Or splitting them with co workers if that's the system used at a specific restaurant?

 

[IrishNYC]

I never really did any waitress type work, but I have always wondered, when wait staff are tipped in cash, there is no way it can be traced, correct? I mean it would just have to be on the "honor" system wouldn't it?

Honor system, cash, credit, tip or no tip doesn’t matter. IRS taxes waitstaff wages based on a percentage (minimum 8%) of their gross receipts. So if your bill is $100, whether you tip $1 or $50, the server pays at least $8 in taxes for serving you.

 

[NYCgrrl]

^^^^
Agreed. A percentage of the restaurant's gross receipts for taxes and I understand some restaurants are using the daily gross receipts to ensure that pooled tips are being distributed properly as well.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Honor system, cash, credit, tip or no tip doesn’t matter. IRS taxes waitstaff wages based on a percentage (minimum 8%) of their gross receipts. So if your bill is $100, whether you tip $1 or $50, the server pays at least $8 in taxes for serving you.

Not true. It means the server pays taxes on $8 of your check, because the gov't assumes the server is receiving at least an 8% tip. So if the server is taxed at a rate of 25%, they will be paying taxes on 25% of $8, or $2. The 25% tax rate is just thrown out there as that number will depend on the server's overall annual income and the tax bracket that they fall into. I just threw out 25% as an example.

The point still exists that many people misunderstand this and assume that, like in the case of a $100 check, of you don't leave at least $8, then the server is actually paying to serve you. Not true. It would mean that for that particular check, they are being taxed at a higher percentage than normal because they are not receiving the amount in tips that the govt is taxing them on. But if, hypothetically, they are taxed at 25%, they are not actually "paying" to serve you unless you tip less than $2.

You also have to consider the fact that majority of customers will always tip far more than 8%, so even when a server receives an occasional low tip or is stiffed, it's all going to more than balance out when the tips of the rest of the tables are calculated in. Also, despite what any manager wants to say, they cannot force a server to claim more in tips than what they actually received, even if the number is less than 8% of the total sales. I ran into this one night while serving where I sold over $400 in food, and only made $12 in tips. I was supposed to claim around $35. Just to make minimum wage for the evening, I needed to claim at least $16.50 in tips (base pay plus tips divided by hrs worked to equal min wage). I claimed what I actually made, which was my legal right. Had I made less for the entire pay period than min wage, the store would have had to cover the difference. My tips from the other nights that week more than covered the low tips from that one night and took me far ahead of both minimum wage and the 8% of my total sales for the week. Servers get away with only claiming 8% of total sales in tips, even though they generally make far more. But you are only taxed on what you claim and you cannot be forced to claim more than you receive.

Now, I'm not taking any sides on what people choose to tip, just saying that regardless of what you tip, the server is guaranteed to make at least minimum wage, and in a pay period if their tips do not equal at least 8% of their sales, by law, they do NOT have to claim (or pay taxes on) more tips than what they receive.

 

[IrishNYC]

Not true. It means the server pays taxes on $8 of your check, because the gov't assumes the server is receiving at least an 8% tip. So if the server is taxed at a rate of 25%, they will be paying taxes on 25% of $8, or $2. The 25% tax rate is just thrown out there as that number will depend on the server's overall annual income and the tax bracket that they fall into. I just threw out 25% as an example.

The point still exists that many people misunderstand this and assume that, like in the case of a $100 check, of you don't leave at least $8, then the server is actually paying to serve you. Not true. It would mean that for that particular check, they are being taxed at a higher percentage than normal because they are not receiving the amount in tips that the govt is taxing them on. But if, hypothetically, they are taxed at 25%, they are not actually "paying" to serve you unless you tip less than $2.

You also have to consider the fact that majority of customers will always tip far more than 8%, so even when a server receives an occasional low tip or is stiffed, it's all going to more than balance out when the tips of the rest of the tables are calculated in. Also, despite what any manager wants to say, they cannot force a server to claim more in tips than what they actually received, even if the number is less than 8% of the total sales. I ran into this one night while serving where I sold over $400 in food, and only made $12 in tips. I was supposed to claim around $35. Just to make minimum wage for the evening, I needed to claim at least $16.50 in tips (base pay plus tips divided by hrs worked to equal min wage). I claimed what I actually made, which was my legal right. Had I made less for the entire pay period than min wage, the store would have had to cover the difference. My tips from the other nights that week more than covered the low tips from that one night and took me far ahead of both minimum wage and the 8% of my total sales for the week. Servers get away with only claiming 8% of total sales in tips, even though they generally make far more. But you are only taxed on what you claim and you cannot be forced to claim more than you receive.

Now, I'm not taking any sides on what people choose to tip, just saying that regardless of what you tip, the server is guaranteed to make at least minimum wage, and in a pay period if their tips do not equal at least 8% of their sales, by law, they do NOT have to claim (or pay taxes on) more tips than what they receive.

I guess the IRS is wrong in their own publication, then.

Allocation of Tips
As an employer, you must ensure that the total tip income reported to you during any pay period is, at a minimum, equal to 8% of your total receipts for that period.

In calculating 8% of total receipts, you do not include nonallocable receipts. Nonallocable receipts are defined as receipts for carry out sales and receipts with a service charge added of 10% or more.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/smal...oyed/reporting-tip-income-restaurant-tax-tips

 

[NYCgrrl]

I ran into this one night while serving where I sold over $400 in food, and only made $12 in tips.

You just made me giggle out loud over a tip from my past. A "gentleman" was attempting to woo his date by purchasing splits of champagne only to be drunk with straws- he was very clear about the straws. At the end of of the set (it was a jazz club) handed him the bill for a little over $100.00. He paid it and gave me a dollar tip. I handed the dollar back to him, smiled, and said "I'm sure you'll need this for the subway".

His date tracked me down at the wait station and tried to press a substantially more appropriate tip into my hand. I thanked her for her graciousness and told her I suspect she would need it for her taxi fare. Boy didn't get girl that night but I had a new girlfriend who still remains in contact w/ me to this day.

 

[lovethesun12]

We had breakfast at CRT and absolutely loved it! I would have been disappointed too if we hadn't gotten the wand/sword though. It was actually my favorite TS of the 6 we tried by far!

We are only doing one MK day this year and skipping it for BOG (which I also love!) but I'm a little sad.

 

[piccolopat]

Every time I read complaints about CRT I can't help but remember how things were when DD was little. This was before the whole princess experience started. We went many times as a walk up and enjoyed a leisurely and tasty meal sitting by the windows. She's 30 now so it's been a while. I really wish Disney would set aside a little time in some of the character and princess places to be character and princess free like the good old days. Even one dinner service at night would be nice so those of us who have no interest in the interactions can enjoy those places again. We mostly miss CRT and Akershus.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I went once back when it was King Stefan's Banquet Hall, more reasonably priced. Enjoyed that.

 

[lovethesun12]

Every time I read complaints about CRT I can't help but remember how things were when DD was little. This was before the whole princess experience started. We went many times as a walk up and enjoyed a leisurely and tasty meal sitting by the windows. She's 30 now so it's been a while. I really wish Disney would set aside a little time in some of the character and princess places to be character and princess free like the good old days. Even one dinner service at night would be nice so those of us who have no interest in the interactions can enjoy those places again. We mostly miss CRT and Akershus.

I have a 2 year old and 4 year old and have to agree.

Every time I read complaints about CRT I can't help but remember how things were when DD was little. This was before the whole princess experience started. We went many times as a walk up and enjoyed a leisurely and tasty meal sitting by the windows. She's 30 now so it's been a while. I really wish Disney would set aside a little time in some of the character and princess places to be character and princess free like the good old days. Even one dinner service at night would be nice so those of us who have no interest in the interactions can enjoy those places again. We mostly miss CRT and Akershus.

That would be awesome. My kids really don't like characters but we like the varieties of buffets. There are few (especially in the parks) you can do without characters. Plus we like the dining packages and typically must do a character meal if we want to do a buffet.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I guess the IRS is wrong in their own publication, then.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/smal...oyed/reporting-tip-income-restaurant-tax-tips

I didn’t read the entire article you quoted. But the specific verbiage you quoted indicates that tip income reported must be at least 8% of total receipts. So, for instance, if total receipts are $100, tip income reported must be at least $8. That’s different than the tax rate being 8%.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I guess the IRS is wrong in their own publication, then.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/smal...oyed/reporting-tip-income-restaurant-tax-tips

Yes, the business still has to report 8% of sales as tips, but if the employee did not receive 8% of sales as tips, the employer lists it differently as "Allocated Tips." As long as the employee has records to show that they did not receive 8% in tips, they will not pay taxes on 8% of the sales, but rather on the amount of tips that they actually received. And it's actually a requirement by the IRS for servers to keep their own records of their daily tips, though most do not.

 

[SL6827]

Honor system, cash, credit, tip or no tip doesn’t matter. IRS taxes waitstaff wages based on a percentage (minimum 8%) of their gross receipts. So if your bill is $100, whether you tip $1 or $50, the server pays at least $8 in taxes for serving you.

I didn't know that, or any of the other info that has been posted. But it is neat to read and try to understand all of the information posted.

 

[smiths02]

I find this all very interesting and I do believe it could very well be true for the most part. Imagine though years ago when tips were in cash and not placed mostly on cards as they are now. I bet they really racked up then with regards to "cash"!

I'm sure this is true that they were able to get away with paying less taxes. However, aside from being not totally legal, servers who under reported their tips/incomes did run into problems if they needed worker's comp, disability, social security.

 

[SL6827]

I'm sure this is true that they were able to get away with paying less taxes. However, aside from being not totally legal, servers who under reported their tips/incomes did run into problems if they needed worker's comp, disability, social security.

Good point. Very true. When you don't pay in taxes, or come up not paying in as much, this could be a very valid problem to some in the future. But I never really imagined just how much the servers could make there. But I'm afraid we are getting way off topic with this thread. Lol.

 

[AngiTN]

We were so excited that we were able to reserve lunch at CRT for our first trip. Especially after reading the description on the Disney site.
What a disappointment it was. There was nothing magical or royal about it. The waiting area down stairs is way too small with too little seating. The food was mediocre to say the least, the service was not what we would expect when you pay that kind of a price for the experience.
We were not guided by a royal guard to our table as the site states. We were handed a piece of paper with our name on it and told to go upstairs. While going upstairs we had to squeeze by other guests that were coming down.
Our waitress was ok, but our table was overlooked when they handed out the magic wands and swords, so when the princesses did their little spell our girls were not able to follow along.
It all felt very Cafeteria like and rushed.
I am glad we did it, just so we could see the inside of the castle, but we will never do it again.
We left disappointed and hungry.

Unfortunately, as to the bold, it's Disney. If you are going to compare the price to what you are getting, you will be disappointed 100% of the time. And that's even when the meal is spectacular and the service stellar.

 

[JimmyBean42]

Whenever an "Overrated WDW Restaurants / Experiences" thread is out there, I always nominate CRT. But that is for me personally. My children loved the character interaction and liked both breakfast and lunch. I might not be as big of curmudgeon about it if the meals were a little better. I fully knew the cost walking in and know I'm paying for the experience / ambiance but it just seemed way overpriced for what you get (food and quality wise). But do they really need to change if it is one of the top booked restaurants at the 180 day window? Tables are usually gone within minutes of opening.