Exempting tips from income taxation, as both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris would do, is evidence of why we need serious tax reform

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Maybe Kim Campbell, former leader of the now-extinct Progressive Conservatives, was right. “An election,” she said, during the 1993 federal election, “is no time to discuss serious issues.” Does that mean we should use elections to discuss “unserious” ones? That seems to be the trend these days.

The latest is the promise both American presidential candidates are making to exempt money earned in tips from income and payroll taxation. Donald Trump introduced the idea in June in Nevada to win service worker votes. Kamala Harris, who so far has avoided policy declarations outside of refuting some of her past left-wing positions, came out this week mimicking Trump’s proposal in her own Nevada speech. She added that she would raise the federal minimum wage, too — though without saying what she would raise it to. That’s a meaningless gesture for most Nevada workers since the state determines minimum wage policy.

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Call it “tipsy tax policy.” These ideas must be hatched while imbibing far too many martinis. It might be a vote-catcher, but it is terrible tax policy. There is no economic reason to privilege tipping over other sources of income — so why exempt it? If you want to provide relief to low-income workers, there are much better ways to do it. Besides, some full-time and many part-time........

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