What can a waitress claim?
Forgive me if any of this sounds stupid but I really have very little information on this and heard various things around my club and I was just wondering if anyone has some insight for me.
First off, I have been a waitress/door girl at my club since january 07. I have had no other jobs but this one. For the first three months I was working door getting tips averaging anywhere from 80-200 a night. While also being paid minimum wage and they would deduct a dollar out of my pay check for every hour that I would as my "claimed tips". Now I'm a waitress, well my actual title is champagne hostess, so I deal with all the private high price dances for the dancers (i.e. handling the house money for the club bringing champagne, orderves and drinks to the private rooms). I make minimum wage for a waitress in Ohio ($3.65) and as with the door girl position they deduct a dollar from every paycheck for every hour that i work as my "tips".
The owner of my club requires that I not abide by the usual waitress dress code, but i have to dress as if I'm going to a fancy dinner with my boobs popping out or a slutty but classy business woman. And he prefers that my nails be done at all times and that my hair cut is always perfect and that my make up always looks good. Which I usually don' have a acrylics and my usual outside work attire is jeans and sweatshirt considering I'm all dresses up on a nightly basis.
My question is if because I am on pay roll as employed at the club, could I claim me getting my hair, nails and all the clothes and heels I have to buy for my job as a work related expense? I have to do all of these things to keep my job.
I heard briefly from my assistant manager that the owner said the bar staff could claim those types of things on taxes as long as we kept the receipts.
Does anyone know for sure if I can do this, or know what I should do to obtain if this information is correct? Or what would be in my best interest or any loop holes to where I could claim this.
I also know nothing really about doing my taxes and this is the first job that I've had where I worked on tips or worked in a strip club.
Any advice or insight would be extremely helpful. :)
Re: What can a waitress claim?
IRS rules for 'employee' business expenses DOES allow for the deduction of the cost of 'uniforms'. As long as the clothing required by the club is not useful in normal life outside of the club it should be deductible.
Your bigger issue is probably the fact that, according to the club's official W2 report to the IRS, you are only earning $4.65 per hour. Thus attempting to deduct any significant employee business expense tax deductions against this extremely low level of officially reported income is very likely going to 'wave red flags' at the IRS. Reporting additional tip income would alleviate this problem, but potentially create a new problem since, under IRS rules. ALL of your tip income is supposed to be reported to the club and run through the club's payroll system.