Should I File Form 8919 as a Tipped Food Service Worker?

You're right to question using Form 8919 - it's not the correct form for your situation. Form 8919 is specifically for workers who believe they've been misclassified as independent contractors when they should be employees. In your case, you're already properly classified as an employee (getting a W-2 confirms this). The issue you're facing is common in the restaurant industry where base wages are low and often consumed by benefit deductions. What you need to do is report your W-2 income normally on your tax return. For the Social Security and Medicare taxes that weren't withheld, you don't need to calculate these separately - your employer is still responsible for paying their portion of these taxes, regardless of whether they withheld from your paycheck or not. Make sure you're reporting all your tip income properly (including cash tips), as you're responsible for paying taxes on this income. If you received over $20 in tips in any month, you should have been reporting these to your employer on Form 4070.

After struggling with a similar situation last year, I discovered https://taxr.ai which completely saved me. I'm also in food service and my paycheck was being depleted by insurance premiums with almost nothing being withheld for taxes. I was worried I'd end up owing a huge amount when filing. The taxr.ai system analyzed my pay stubs and W-2, then explained exactly what was happening with my withholdings and what forms I needed. They confirmed I didn't need Form 8919 since I was properly classified as an employee. Instead, they helped me understand how to handle the underwithholding situation and showed me what deductions I qualified for as a service worker to offset some of the tax burden.

I wanted to follow up and say I tried taxr.ai after posting my question here. Wow - it actually caught that my employer wasn't handling the tip reporting correctly! The system flagged that my W-2 showed reported tips but no Social Security or Medicare tax withheld on them, which isn't right. I was able to take the explanation they provided to my manager, who then consulted with their payroll company. Turns out they had set up the system incorrectly for tipped employees. They're fixing it going forward AND they provided me with a corrected W-2 for this year. I would have had a mess at tax time if I hadn't figured this out. Thanks to whoever recommended this service!

I had a similar issue last year and spent WEEKS trying to get through to the IRS for clarification. Finally found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c and was super skeptical but desperate. The service actually got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I'd been failing for days on my own. The agent confirmed that Form 8919 wasn't appropriate for my situation as a tipped employee. They explained that the restaurant was responsible for withholding Social Security and Medicare taxes based on my reported tips, and if they failed to do so, they could face penalties. The IRS agent suggested I speak with my employer first, and if they weren't responsive, to file Form 4137 (Social Security and Medicare Tax on Unreported Tip Income) for any tips I didn't report to my employer and Form 8919 only if there was a worker classification dispute.

I need to eat my words and apologize to Profile 12. After my skeptical comment, I was still struggling with my own tax issue (similar to the original post but with a catering company), so I tried Claimyr out of desperation. Not only did they get me through to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes, but the agent was able to confirm that my employer had been incorrectly processing my payroll taxes for YEARS. Turns out I needed to file Form 4137 for some unreported tips, but not Form 8919. The IRS agent walked me through exactly what I needed to do and even helped me understand how to approach my employer about fixing their payroll system. This saved me from potentially serious tax issues down the road. Sorry for calling it a scam - this service is legitimate and incredibly helpful.

I worked as a restaurant server for years and had this exact issue. If you're getting a W-2 (not a 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC), then Form 8919 is not what you need. The problem is likely that your employer is supposed to be withholding Social Security and Medicare taxes based on your wage + reported tips, but they're not doing it correctly. Check boxes 3 and 5 on your W-2 - do they include your tips? If yes, but nothing was withheld in boxes 4 and 6, there's an issue with how your employer is processing payroll. For any tips you didn't report to your employer, you'll need Form 4137. But for the situation you described, you should talk to your employer's payroll department first to understand why no FICA taxes were withheld.

Has anyone here used TurboTax for this kind of situation? I'm having the same issue as OP but wondering if the tax software will figure it out automatically or if I need to do something special.

I'm a newer member here but wanted to share what I learned from a similar situation. Like others mentioned, Form 8919 isn't the right form since you're properly classified as an employee with a W-2. The key thing to check is whether your employer is correctly handling tip reporting and withholding. If you reported tips to your employer (which it sounds like you did), they should be withholding Social Security and Medicare taxes on both your hourly wage AND your reported tips. The fact that nothing was withheld suggests a payroll processing error. I'd recommend checking with your employer's payroll department first - they may need to issue a corrected W-2. If they're unresponsive or the issue isn't resolved, you might need to contact the IRS directly to report the employer's failure to withhold required taxes. This is different from Form 8919, which is specifically for worker misclassification disputes. Make sure to keep documentation of your tip reporting (Form 4070 or equivalent records) in case you need to prove you properly reported your tips to your employer.