If you're in the service industry, a big chunk of your income may come from tips. But don't think you can get away with not filing taxes for them. Here are a couple of tips from the IRS: Tips are taxed. Your tips will face federal income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes. You will also be taxed on nonmonetary tips like tickets, and gifts will be counted as income. Include them on your tax Read more

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy! But before you rest on your laurels, let’s tackle one of the trickier holiday practices: end-of-year tipping for the service people who regularly help you. They help you when you’re struggling to get a package in the door. They fix your leaky faucet before it becomes a flood. They brave rain and snow to get you your mail Read more

To tip or not to tip, that is the question everyone is thinking about during this holiday season. Although we're emerging from the recession, the economy is still not a pretty picture. So how much should we tip others when we're carefully watching our purse strings? Here are some rules you should follow: Tip what you can afford. If you can't afford to tip, think about alternatives such as Read more

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy! 1. Give the traditional way. PayPal? Forget it. An end-of-the-year tip should be handed over in person. Tuck the money (crisp, new bills are a plus) into a card with a handwritten note expressing your appreciation. If you can’t do it face-to-face — in the case of, say, the newspaper deliverer who passes by at 4 a.m. — mail Read more

If you're like me, you tend to tip more when a waitress has been especially charming and efficient, or none at all when you experience really bad attitude from a cabbie. That's because tipping rewards and promotes good service, right? Think again. Studies show that people still tip when they receive bad service and the amount people give doesn't vary drastically with how satisfied they were with Read more

Studies show that tipping doesn't improve service, which begs the question: why should we tip? Well, reader gumdrops334 made a good point when she said, ". . . You really should tip about 15 percent at most restaurants. Your waiter is getting paid little to nothing hourly, so that tip is the only money they're really making for their job. Most waiters make about $2.15 hourly. Makes you Read more

We're all longing to take some time off to traipse around the world like Julia Roberts in Eat Pray Love, but all of us have to fret about nitty-gritty cultural details like tipping when we're abroad. It's hard to know what to do when you're visiting a country for the first time, and we certainly don't want to offend anyone. Here are some useful tips that I turn to whenever I'm making a foray into Read more

A few weeks ago, I had my hair trimmed by a stylist I'd been to a couple of times before and liked. She gave a good cut, so I gave her what I thought was a solid tip. But when she took a look at the check I'd written, she glanced up at me and said, "Only 20 percent?" I was pretty mortified and confused, and I haven't been back. Lately, it seems like tip percentages just keep growing. Most people Read more