FICA Tip Credit Calculator for Hotels & Resorts
Get back the employer FICA you paid on tips earned by your restaurant, bar, and banquet staff — the §45B credit at the frozen federal $5.15 threshold.
Hotels often run multiple tipped operations — restaurants, lounges, room service, and banquets. Each tipped food-and-beverage employee can contribute to the §45B credit.
Group your outlets as locations, enter cash wages and tips, and roll everything into a single worksheet. Some states set distinct tipped wages for hotel and restaurant staff, so choose the matching wage rule.
Threshold for this category: $5.15/hour — the frozen federal rate.
Examples
Multiple outlets
Add the restaurant, lounge, and banquet teams as separate locations and combine the totals.
State-specific hotel rules
Where a state sets a separate hotel/restaurant tipped wage, pick that variant so the offset is accurate.
Frequently asked questions
Do banquet servers count?+
If they receive reported tips (not just service charges) and you pay employer FICA on them, yes.
Are mandatory gratuities tips?+
No. Mandatory service charges are wages, not tips, and do not count toward the §45B credit.