Employee tip report form and daily tip record template (free)

For years the answer to "how do my servers report their cash tips?" was "Form 4070." That form is gone: the IRS says "Form 4070 and Form 4070A are historical", and Publication 1244, which held them, is obsolete. The rule behind them hasn't changed. Employees who get tips still keep a daily record, still give their employer a written report every month, and the employer still keeps those reports.

So you need your own form. This post gives you a daily tip record for staff, a monthly tip report that includes everything the IRS asks for, a short policy, and a tracker so you know who has handed theirs in.

General information, not tax advice. Your payroll provider or accountant handles withholding, the W-2 and Form 8027. State tip rules (tip credits, tip pools, declarations) are separate from these federal reporting rules.

What the IRS asks for

From the IRS page Tip recordkeeping and reporting and Publication 531, Reporting Tip Income:

Rule	What it means for your team
Daily record	Employees keep a daily record of their tips, either in a tip diary or by keeping copies of documents that show them (bills, card slips).
Report to the employer	Employees report their tips to the employer in a written statement, unless the total is less than $20 for the month at that job.
No particular form	"No particular IRS form must be used." The statement needs the employee's signature, name, address and Social Security number; the employer's name and address (and the business name if different); the month or period covered; and the total tips for that period.
By the 10th	The report for each month is due by the 10th of the next month, or the next business day when the 10th is a weekend or legal holiday.
More often is fine	An employer can ask for reports more than once a month, but one statement can't cover more than one calendar month.
Leaving mid-month	An employee whose job ends during the month can report when the job ends.
Electronic is allowed	"Your employer can have you furnish your tip statements electronically." If an employer's electronic system keeps the daily record, the employee "must receive and keep a paper copy of this record."
Tip pools	Employees report only the tips they receive and keep, plus tips they get from coworkers, not the part they pass on.
Service charges aren't tips	An automatic 18% for large parties is a service charge, paid as wages, not a tip. A tip is something the guest chooses freely and sets the amount of.
Noncash tips	Tickets, passes and other items of value go in the employee's daily record and on their tax return, but not in the report to the employer.
Penalty	An employee who doesn't report may owe a penalty of 50% of the Social Security and Medicare tax on the unreported tips, on top of the tax itself.
Employer's side	"Employers are required to retain employee tip reports." Reported tips are wages for withholding, and go on the W-2.

The qualified tips deduction. Since 2025, employees in occupations the IRS lists as customarily tipped may be able to deduct qualified tips on their federal return, for tax years 2025 through 2028, up to $25,000, phasing out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($300,000 joint). The IRS says the tips must be reported on an information return such as the W-2, or by the employee on Form 4137, and employers now report cash tips on the W-2 in box 12, code TP, with the Treasury Tipped Occupation Code in box 14b. That makes an accurate tip report more useful to your staff, not less. The details are on the IRS page above; our January payroll deadlines post (coming Dec 25) covers the W-2 side.

The daily tip record (for staff)

Hand it out at hiring, or put a stack by the time clock. It's the employee's own record: they keep it.

Daily tip record · [month and year]

Name: ………………………… Employer: [legal name] · Business: [café / restaurant name]

Date	Cash tips from guests	Card tips paid to me	Tips I got from coworkers (who)	Tips I paid to coworkers (who)	Noncash tips (what, value)	Total I kept
[1]
[2]
[3]
…
Month total

Keep this with your own tax records. The IRS says to keep tip records as long as they're important for your federal taxes; see Publication 531.

The columns follow what Publication 531 says to write each workday: cash tips from customers or other employees, card tips your employer pays you, the value of noncash tips, and what you paid out to others through a tip pool, with their names.

The monthly tip report (to the employer)

[Café / restaurant name] — Employee tip report

Employee name: …………………………

Address: …………………………

Social Security number: …………………… (hand this form to [the GM / the owner] in person or in a sealed envelope; it isn't left at the host stand)

Employer: [legal name], [address] · Business name: [café / restaurant name, if different]

Period covered: from …………… to …………… (no more than one calendar month)

Line	Amount
A. Cash tips received (from guests and from coworkers)	$
B. Card tips received (from the POS or tip pool, paid through payroll)	$
C. Tips paid out to coworkers	$
D. Total tips to report (A + B − C)	$

Noncash tips are not included in this report.

I confirm this is a true report of the tips I received in this period.

Signature: ………………………… Date: ……………

Received by: ………………………… Date received: ……………

Why line B is there. Card tips and tips shared out through payroll are often already in your POS and payroll records, and many employers fill in line B for staff. The employee still signs the total. Ask your payroll provider whether it wants line D, or cash tips only, from you each pay period.

Why the Social Security number? The IRS lists it as part of the statement. Treat these forms like I-9s and W-4s: kept in a locked file or your payroll system, never on a clipboard in the kitchen.

The policy (one paragraph for your handbook)

Tip reporting. If you receive tips, you must keep a daily record of them and give [the GM] a signed tip report on our form for each [pay period / month], by the [10th of the following month / the Monday after the pay period ends]. Report all cash and card tips you receive and keep, including tips from coworkers, but not tips you pass on to others. Service charges such as [our 18% large-party charge] aren't tips; they're paid as wages and you don't report them. If your tips are less than $20 in a month, you don't need to report them for that month. We include reported tips in your wages for tax withholding and on your W-2. If you leave, hand in your last report on your last day.

Our employee handbook outline has a place for it.

The employer's tracker

One sheet per month, kept with payroll.

Tip reports received · [month and year]

Employee	Position	Report received (date)	Period covered	Total reported	Entered in payroll (date)	Follow-up

Reports due by: [the 10th] · Reminder sent: [date] · Checked by: …………………………

Look down the "Total reported" column every month. A server whose cash tips are always $0, or always the same round number, is worth a quiet conversation about the rules, not an accusation.

Large restaurants: Form 8027 and allocated tips

If your restaurant is a large food or beverage establishment, the IRS asks for more. Per the IRS tip page, that's one in the 50 states or DC where food or drink is consumed on the premises (fast food operations excepted), tipping is customary, and you normally had more than 10 employees on a typical business day in the year before. Each one files Form 8027 every year, and if reported tips come to less than 8% of gross receipts (or a lower rate the IRS approves), the difference is allocated among tipped employees and shown in box 8 of their W-2. Good tip reports keep allocation from surprising your staff. Your payroll provider will usually prepare it.

How long to keep tip reports

Tip reports are employment tax records. The IRS says to "Keep all records of employment taxes for at least 4 years" (Publication 15). Keep the signed reports and your tracker together, by month.

Your tip reporting checklist

[ ] A daily tip record handed to every tipped employee at hiring
[ ] A monthly (or per pay period) tip report form with every IRS element
[ ] A due date in the handbook, no later than the 10th of the next month
[ ] Service charges named in the policy, and paid as wages
[ ] A tracker showing who handed theirs in
[ ] Reports kept privately, for at least 4 years
[ ] Payroll provider asked how it wants reported tips, and whether you're a large establishment for Form 8027

Where Mays fits

Card tips, shared out. With your POS connected, Mays pools the location's tips and shares them out by hours, equally or by FTAR score, and each person's share goes in the payroll export (Tips in the Standard CSV, paycheck_tips in the Gusto timesheet). See Tip pooling and Payroll export.
The figure for line B. Scheduling → Reports → Tip Payouts shows each person's worked hours and tip pool share for any dates you pick, such as a calendar month. See Scheduling reports.
Wisconsin. Where Labor law compliance is on, Mays asks each tipped employee at a Wisconsin location to confirm or correct their tips at the end of every pay period, as Wisconsin's tip credit rule requires. See Tip declarations.

What Mays doesn't do: there's no place in Mays for cash tips, and the Gusto export's cash_tips column is left empty, so cash tips go on this paper report and into your payroll provider. Mays doesn't collect the monthly tip statement outside Wisconsin, and staff don't see their tips in the app outside Wisconsin. Don't put Social Security numbers in a Mays form or chat.

A report a month, in writing

A daily record for the employee, a signed report by the 10th for the employer, and a tracker so nobody slips through. It's what the IRS asks for, it protects your staff's Social Security record and their tip deduction, and it takes ten minutes a month.

Start your free trial: 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or book a walkthrough and we'll set up your tip pool and payroll export with you.