All 68 Jobs That Qualify for No Tax on Tips in 2026

How the Qualified Occupation List Works

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) created a federal income tax deduction for qualified tip income, but it did not automatically apply to all workers who receive tips. Congress delegated the job of defining eligible occupations to the IRS and the Department of the Treasury.

Treasury's standard: an occupation qualifies if workers in that role customarily and regularly received tips before December 31, 2024. The goal was to target the benefit at workers for whom tipping is an established cultural norm — not to create a new incentive for employers to reclassify wages as tips.

The result is a list of 68 specific occupational codes drawn from the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. If your job title maps to one of these codes, you are in a qualified occupation. You still need to meet the income and deduction-cap rules:

• Deduction cap: Up to $25,000 in tip income deducted per year (tips above $25,000 are still taxable)
• Income limit: $150,000 AGI for single filers; $300,000 for married filing jointly (deduction phases out above these thresholds)
• Tax years: 2025 through 2028 (not permanent — Congress must renew)
• Federal only: The deduction reduces federal taxable income; most states still tax tips at ordinary rates

For a full explanation of how the deduction works, see our guide: OBBBA Tip Tax Exemption Explained .

Complete List of 68 Qualifying Jobs by Category

Below are all 68 occupations organized into eight categories. Where relevant, we link to our occupation-specific pages with dedicated calculators and guidance.

1. Beverage and Food Service (22 Occupations)

The largest category — food and beverage service is the heartland of American tipping culture. Every major tipped role in a restaurant, bar, cafe, or food-service establishment is included.

2. Entertainment and Events (8 Occupations)

Musicians, performers, and event workers who customarily receive gratuities from audiences or event clients qualify under this category.

3. Hospitality and Guest Services (12 Occupations)

Hotel and lodging workers are among the most consistently tipped occupations in America. All major hotel-facing roles are covered. See our full guide for hotel staff tip tax savings.

4. Personal Care and Beauty (10 Occupations)

Personal care services are the second-largest tipped sector in the US. Every mainstream beauty and wellness occupation is on the list. See our dedicated guide for hair stylists and barbers.

5. Transportation (10 Occupations)

All major for-hire transportation workers are included. Rideshare drivers are explicitly covered — a significant win for the gig economy. See our pages for taxi drivers and valet parking attendants.

6. Delivery Services (6 Occupations)

Gig-economy delivery workers are included — covering food, grocery, and package delivery where tipping via app is an established norm. See our full delivery driver tax guide.

7. Recreation and Tourism (8 Occupations)

Tour guides, caddies, and outdoor recreation workers with an established tipping tradition are covered.

8. Building and Property Services (4 Occupations)

This is the most surprising category — a small number of trade and property-service workers made the final list. See the next section for context on why.

Surprising Additions to the List

Most of the 68 occupations were expected. A few raised eyebrows — including back-of-house restaurant workers, skilled tradespeople, and gig delivery workers.

Dishwashers and Cooks

Including dishwashers and line cooks surprised many observers, since these workers traditionally do not receive direct customer tips. Treasury's rationale: the expanded tip-pooling rules in recent years (following the 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act) allow back-of-house workers to participate in mandatory tip pools. Since they now customarily and regularly receive a share of tips through these pools, they meet the statutory standard and are included in the list.

Plumbers and Electricians

Skilled tradespeople — particularly residential service workers — are included in a narrow, specific context. Tipping residential service workers (especially during the holiday season) is a documented cultural practice in certain regions of the US, notably in the Northeast. Treasury concluded that this practice meets the "customarily and regularly" threshold for those specific occupational contexts. This does not mean all plumbers and electricians qualify — only those working in residential service situations where customer tipping is an established norm.

Rideshare and Gig Delivery Workers

Including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, and similar platform workers was a deliberate policy decision. In-app tipping for these services has become standard and culturally expected since the mid-2010s. Treasury determined that by December 31, 2024, this practice had become sufficiently "customary and regular" to qualify. This is significant because gig workers are often independent contractors — and the deduction applies regardless of whether you are a W-2 employee or a 1099 contractor.

How to Check If You Qualify (3 Steps)

Not sure whether your job and income situation make you eligible? Use this quick three-step check:

For a faster check, visit our No Tax on Tips FAQ or run the numbers directly in the calculator below.

Calculate Your Exact Savings

Knowing you qualify is step one. Step two is finding out exactly how much money you save. The answer depends on your total income, filing status, state of residence, and tip amount.

Our free calculator handles all of it in 30 seconds — enter your hourly wage, hours worked, and tip income, and it calculates your federal and state tax savings under the OBBBA for 2026.

Quick Reference: Savings by Tip Income Level

Savings vary based on filing status and total income. Higher-bracket workers save more per dollar of tip income. FICA taxes still apply and are not included in these figures.