Waitress with tips paid out to support staff

[Maria39520]

So I worked for a restaurant who would have us at the end of our shift, print our report, and whatever the report told us was owed to busser, food runner and bartender, we put said cash in a folder labeled busser, food runner and bartender and they picked up their money the next day. I kept track of how much tips I made each day as well as how much was paid out to each support staff. However, we were never given the first and last names of who we were paying our now did we have their personal information (example: social, date of birth and/or address). And this particular year in question, my w-2 shows that I made close to $80k. However I didn’t take home that much. My employer did not account for the pay outs. When I went through my records that I kept, I paid right at $20k to support staff. Somehow I need to get a credit for this $20k because that is a substantial amount. This has caused a big deal when I brought this up to my work, and since then, they now ask us at the end of every shift, how much we are paying out to each support staff and they input it in the computer under each persons name so that they can reflect it on their w-2s and our now W-2s reported tips will not be the amount taken home, which is tips minus tip out to support staff. So can someone please tell me how I can get this credit, because I am not going to file  with the $80k showing as income. I want the $20k to be given as a credit or a Deduction somehow. I read on the irs website that said if I didn’t keep up with all the details on who I paid and their personal info for so that that person can report their correct income, that I just miss out and have to report the $80k and I am not ok with that. Please someone tell me their is a way. 

[rjs]

There is no way to get a credit or deduction for tip-outs on your tax return. The tip-outs are not supposed to be included in your W-2. It sounds like your employer now understands that and has started to do it correctly. For 2024 you have to get a corrected W-2 from your employer that does not include the tip-outs.

If the employer refuses to correct the W-2, you can use a substitute W-2, Form 4852, to enter the correct information in your tax return. When you enter the W-2 in TurboTax, enter the correct information instead of what's on the W-2 from the employer. After you enter the W-2 information, you will get a screen that says "Let's check for uncommon situations." Check the box for "Didn't get a W-2" (even though that's not your situation) and click Continue. The following screens ask if you want to complete Form 4852. Select Yes and proceed through the screens, entering the requested information to complete Form 4852. It will ask you to enter explanations of what you did to try to get a correct W-2 from your employer, and how you calculated the amounts that you entered. The prompts on the TurboTax screens assume that you didn't get a W-2 at all, but that's not what the actual Form 4852 says. The form says to explain your efforts to obtain an original or corrected Form W-2, and how you determined the amounts that you entered.

[Hal_Al]

Here's an old thread on that subject. 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2828634-my-wife-is-a-waitress-and-paid-1300-in-tip-out-for-the-yea...