(Reuters) – Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on Friday that both he and the ride-hailing firm are supportive of U.S. President Donald Trump’s initiative to eliminate taxes on tips received by its drivers.
“I think the President has said he believes in no taxes on tips generally. We think it’s a terrific idea and we will be very, very supportive of that initiative,” Khosrowshahi said at a conference hosted by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in Miami.
President Trump made a campaign promise in Las Vegas to cut taxes on tips. He first made the proposal in June last year, as he courted service workers in the presidential swing state of Nevada. The tip-heavy hospitality industry comprises more than a fifth of all jobs in the state.
Trump said on Wednesday he is going to work with Republicans in Congress to significantly reduce taxes for individuals and companies.
“We’re going to dramatically cut taxes for families and for workers and for companies, including no tax on tips and hopefully no tax on Social Security and no tax on overtime,” Trump said at the conference in Miami.
Recent research from the Budget Lab at Yale, a non-partisan policy research center, estimated that as few as 3% of taxpayers nationally would benefit from a tipped-earnings exemption, with many others who collect tips making too little to owe any federal taxes.
(Reporting by Rishi Kant in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
