Form 4070, Employee's Report of Tips to Employer, was the IRS form tipped employees used to report their tips to their employer each month. It's now historical: from 2024 the IRS made Publication 1244, which held Form 4070 and the daily tip record Form 4070A, obsolete. You still have to report tips of $20 or more in a month from one job to your employer, by the 10th of the following month, using a written or electronic statement.
Everything below comes from IRS Publication 531 (Rev. December 2024) and the IRS's 2025 guidance on the tips deduction, as of October 2026.
What changed, and what didn't
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Form 4070 (report of tips to employer) | Historical; earlier revisions are still on the IRS prior-year forms page |
| Form 4070A (daily tip record) | Historical |
| Publication 1244, which contained both | Obsolete from 2024 |
| The duty to report tips to your employer | Unchanged |
| The duty to keep a daily tip record | Unchanged |
So the form went, but the rule it served stayed. Publication 531 now carries the steps for keeping a daily record and reporting to your employer.
What your tip report must include
If your employer doesn't give you another way to report, Publication 531 says you can hand over a statement with:
- your name, address and social security number
- your employer's name, address and business name, if different
- the month, or the dates of a shorter period, in which you received the tips
- the total tips you're required to report for that period
You sign and date it and keep a copy. Your employer can ask for reports more often than monthly, but one statement can't cover more than 1 calendar month, and your employer can let you send statements electronically.
The $20 rule and what counts
Report cash tips, tips paid by check, and debit and credit card tips. If your total tips for a month from one job are less than $20, you don't report that month's tips to that employer, as of October 2026. If you share tips in a pool or tip-splitting arrangement, report only what you receive and keep.
Service charges aren't tips. Publication 531's example is an 18% charge a restaurant adds for parties of six or more: because the customer didn't freely choose it, it's a service charge, paid to you as wages, and it doesn't go in your tip diary.
When to report
- Give your employer the report for each month by the 10th of the next month.
- If the 10th falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, report by the next day that isn't one. The publication's example: tips for July 2025 were due by August 11, 2025, because August 10 was a Sunday.
- If your job ends partway through a month, you can report when your employment ends.
Keep a daily record anyway
You must keep a daily tip record so you can report accurately to your employer, report accurately on your tax return, and prove your tip income if the IRS ever asks. You can keep a tip diary, or use an electronic system your employer provides, as long as you get and keep a paper copy.
Why the old Form 4070 still matters in 2025
This is the insight most guides miss. The tips deduction runs for tax years 2025 through 2028, with a maximum annual deduction of $25,000 that phases out for modified adjusted gross income over $150,000, or $300,000 for joint filers, as of October 2026. It applies to qualified tips in occupations the IRS lists as customarily and regularly receiving tips.
Because Forms W-2 didn't change for 2025, the IRS's guidance lets workers use their own reports. Its example: a bartender who reported $20,000 of tips to his employer during 2025 on Forms 4070, with $15,000 in box 7 of his Form W-2, may use either figure in working out his qualified tips. Monthly tip reports and a daily diary are now evidence for a deduction, not just paperwork.
If you don't report
If you don't report tips to your employer as required, you may face a penalty of 50% of the social security, Medicare, Additional Medicare or railroad retirement taxes you owe on the unreported tips, on top of the taxes themselves, unless you can show reasonable cause. Tips you didn't report to your employer still go on your return, with the employee's share of social security and Medicare figured on Form 4137.
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Allocated tips are a separate thing. Your employer allocates tips to you only if you worked in an establishment, such as a restaurant or cocktail lounge, that must allocate tips to employees, and the tips you reported were less than your share of 8% of food and drink sales. No income or payroll taxes are withheld on allocated tips.
The verdict
Don't hunt for a current Form 4070; there isn't one. Use whatever reporting method your employer gives you, or a signed monthly statement with the four items above, and hand it in by the 10th. Keep the daily record too, because from 2025 it can support the tips deduction. Tipped pay rules at work are covered in the federal minimum wage guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Form 4070 still used?
No. The IRS says Forms 4070 and 4070A are historical, and Publication 1244 that contained them was made obsolete beginning in 2024.
How do I report tips to my employer without Form 4070?
Use your employer's method, or give a signed statement with your name, address and SSN, your employer's details, the period, and the total tips for that period.
When are tip reports due?
By the 10th of the month after you received the tips, or the next business day if the 10th falls on a weekend or legal holiday.
Are tips under $20 reported to the employer?
If your total tips for a month from one job are less than $20, you don't report them to that employer, as of October 2026.
Can old Form 4070 reports help with the tips deduction?
Yes. The IRS's 2025 guidance gives the example of a bartender who may use the tips he reported on Forms 4070 in working out his qualified tips.
What's the penalty for not reporting tips to my employer?
You may owe a penalty equal to 50% of the social security, Medicare, Additional Medicare or railroad retirement taxes on the unreported tips, on top of the taxes, unless you show reasonable cause.
Are service charges tips?
No. A charge the customer can't freely choose, such as an automatic charge for large parties, is a service charge and is treated as wages.
