Tip Reporting Alternative Commitment (TRAC) Agreement and Tip Rate Determination (TRDA) for Use in the Food and Beverage Industry

TIP REPORTING ALTERNATIVE COMMITMENT
(For use only in the food and beverage industry and where tipped employees receive both cash and
charged tips)

between
Department of the Treasury–Internal Revenue Service
and
[Name of Employer]
This Tip Reporting Alternative Commitment (TRAC) agreement is part of the Tip Rate
Determination/Education Program that the Internal Revenue Service implemented in
1993 to promote tip reporting compliance by employees in accordance with the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986.
Section 6053(a) of the Code requires employees to furnish one or more written
statements to their employers reporting all tips received in each calendar month. The
statements must be furnished to the employer by the 10th day of the following month.
I. DEFINITIONS
A. Service Representative means the Internal Revenue Service employee or
delegate authorized to execute or terminate this TRAC agreement on behalf of the
Internal Revenue Service.
B. Employer means
[insert name, address, and EIN].
C. Establishment means each of the establishments or divisions listed by name,
address, and identifying number in Attachment A. [sample attached]
1. One place of business. If the Employer has one place of business, that
place of business is an Establishment, and no attachment is necessary.
2. Additional establishment. If the Employer subsequently wishes to include
an additional establishment in this TRAC agreement, the Employer must notify the
Service Representative in writing. The notification must include the name, address, and
identifying number of the additional establishment.
D. Employee means a person employed by the Establishment who directly or
indirectly receives tips of at least $20.00 per month during the course of the employee's
employment.
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II. COMMITMENT OF EMPLOYER
A. Education.
1. New Employees. The Employer will establish an educational program that
trains newly hired Employees that the law requires them to report all their cash and
charged tips to their employer. At a minimum, the program will give each Employee–
a. A short oral explanation of the reporting requirements and the records
maintenance requirements. The material in IRS Publication 1244, Employee’s Daily
Record of Tips and Report to Employer, is suitable for this purpose;
b. Written informational materials, which may include any of the following
IRS documents: Publication 1244, Employee’s Daily Record of Tips and Report to
Employer, Publication 531, Reporting Tip Income, and Publication 1872, Tips on Tips
for employees in the food and beverage industry; and
c. An explanation of the Employer’s tip reporting procedures (section II.B
below).
2. Existing Employees. The Employer will establish a quarterly education
program for existing Employees.
B. Employee tip-reporting procedures. Each Establishment will establish a
procedure or procedures under which a written or electronic statement is prepared and
processed on a regular basis (no less frequently than monthly), reflecting all tips for
services attributable to each Employee. These procedures are to enable Employees to
meet their reporting requirements under section 6053(a) of the Code. An Employer
may provide different procedures for cash and charged tips, as well as for directly
tipped and indirectly tipped Employees. IRS Publication 1875, Tips on Tips for
employers in the food and beverage industry, includes an example of an acceptable
TRAC statement that an employer can use for both directly and indirectly tipped
Employees.
C. Returns, taxes, and records.
1. Filing returns and paying and depositing taxes.
a. In general. The Employer (or employing Establishment) will comply
with the requirements for filing all required federal tax returns and paying and depositing
all federal taxes.
b. Form 8027. For each Establishment that is a “large food or beverage
establishment,” the Employer will comply with the requirements for filing Form 8027,
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Employer’s Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips, and send an
additional copy of each Form 8027 to the IRS.
2. Maintaining records. Each Establishment will maintain records of the
following:
a. Gross receipts subject to tipping, and
b. Charge receipts showing charged tips.
The Employer will retain these records for at least 4 years after the April 15 following
the calendar year to which the records relate.
3. Making records available. Upon the request of the Service
Representative, the Employer will make the following quarterly totals available, by
Establishment, for statistical samplings of its Establishments:
a.
b.
c.
d.

Gross receipts subject to tipping,
Charge receipts showing charged tips,
Total charged tips, and
Total tips reported.

III. COMMITMENT OF INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
A. Tip examinations. The IRS will not initiate any tip examinations of the
Employer (or Establishment) for any period for which this TRAC agreement is in effect,
except in relation to a tip examination of one or more Employees or former Employees
of the Employer (or Establishment).
B. Section 3121(q) notice and demand. Any section 3121(q) notice and
demand issued to the Employer (or Establishment) relating to any period during which
this TRAC agreement is in effect will be based solely on amounts reflected on–
1. Form 4137, Social Security and Medicare Tax on Unreported Tip Income,
filed by an Employee with his or her Form 1040, or
2. Form 885-T, Adjustment of Social Security Tax on Tip Income Not
Reported to Employer, prepared at the conclusion of an employee tip examination.
C. Compliance review. The IRS may evaluate the Employer for compliance with
the provisions of this TRAC agreement.
D. Assistance. Upon request, the IRS will assist any Employer or Establishment
in establishing, maintaining, or improving its educational program or tip reporting
procedures.

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IV. TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT
A. Termination by Employer. If the Employer no longer wishes this TRAC
agreement to apply to one or more Establishments, the Employer may terminate this
TRAC agreement with respect to the Establishment(s) by providing written notification
to the Service Representative identifying the Establishments(s). If the termination
applies to all the Establishments of the Employer, the TRAC agreement will be
terminated.
B. Termination by Internal Revenue Service.
1. Termination of TRAC agreement. The IRS may terminate this TRAC
agreement only if–
a. The Service Representative determines that the Employer (or any
Establishment) has failed to substantially comply with section II.A (pertaining to
Education for Employees) or II.B (pertaining to Employee tip reporting procedures);
b. The Employer (or any Establishment) fails to meet any of the
requirements of section II.C (pertaining to filing returns and paying and depositing
taxes, maintaining records, and making records available); or
c. The IRS pursues an administrative or judicial action relating to the
Employer, Establishment, or any other related party to this TRAC agreement.
2. Termination of TRAC agreement with respect to one or more
Establishments. In the case of a failure described in section IV.B.1.a or b, by one or
more Establishments, the Service Representative may choose to terminate this TRAC
agreement with respect to the Establishment(s) instead of terminating the TRAC
agreement under section IV.B.1.
C. Effective date of termination. Except for a termination described in section
IV.B.1.a, any termination will be effective the first day of the first calendar quarter after
the terminating party notifies the other party in writing. In the case of a termination
under section IV.B.1.a, the Service Representative may elect an earlier termination
date, but no earlier than the first day of the first calendar quarter of the substantial
noncompliance. The terminated agreement will continue to apply to periods during
which the agreement was effective.
D. Renewal after termination. The Employer and the Service Representative
may at any time enter into a new TRAC agreement.
V. EFFECTIVE DATE OF AGREEMENT

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A. General rule. This TRAC agreement is effective on the first day of the first
calendar quarter following the date the Service Representative signs the TRAC
agreement.
B. Additional establishment. This TRAC agreement is effective with respect to
an additional establishment on the first day of the quarter in which notification of the
additional establishment is made.
VI. MISCELLANEOUS
A. Examinations and/or inspections of books and records. For purposes of this
TRAC agreement–
1. Compliance review. A compliance review is not treated as an examination
or an inspection of books of account or records.
2. Examination. The inspection of books of account or records pursuant to a
tip examination is not an inspection of books or records for purposes of section 7605(b)
of the Code, and is not a prior audit for purposes of section 530 of the Revenue Act of
1978.
B. Notices. The parties will send all correspondence pertaining to this TRAC
agreement, including a notice of termination, to the addresses stated below, unless
notified in writing of a change of address. In the event of a change of address, the
parties must send all correspondence to the new address. All notices are deemed to
be sent or submitted on the date of the postmark stamped on the envelope or, in the
case of a notice sent by certified mail, the sender’s receipt.
C. Authority. The Employer represents that it has the authority to enter into this
TRAC agreement on behalf of itself and the Establishment(s) listed in Attachment A.
D. Termination of prior agreement. Any prior TRAC agreement relating to an
Establishment covered by this Agreement shall terminate on the day preceding the
effective date of this Agreement with respect to the Establishment. The terminated
agreement will continue to apply to periods during which the agreement was effective.
E. General termination and sunset provision. The Commissioner of Internal
Revenue may terminate all TRAC agreements at any time following a significant
statutory change in the FICA taxation of tips.
VII. PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT

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The collections of information contained in this document have been reviewed
and approved by the Office of Management and Budget in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3507) under control number 1545-1549.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond
to, a collection of information unless the collection of information displays a valid control
number. The collections of information in this document are in sections I.C, II.A, II.B,
II.C.2 and 3, and IV.A. This information is required to comply with sections 6053(a) and
6001 of the Internal Revenue Code and to assist the Internal Revenue Service in its
compliance efforts. This information will be used to monitor the Employer's
performance under the TRAC agreement. The collections of information are required to
obtain the benefits available under the TRAC agreement. The likely respondents are
business or other for-profit institutions.
The estimated total annual reporting and/or recordkeeping burden is 296,916
hours.
The estimated annual burden per respondent/recordkeeper varies from 5 hours
to 24 hours, depending on individual circumstances, with an estimated average of 7
hours. The estimated number of respondents and/or recordkeepers is 41,800.
The estimated annual frequency of responses is on occasion.
Books or records relating to a collection of information must be retained as long
as their contents may become material in the administration of any internal revenue
law. Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential, as required by
section 6103 of the Code.

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VIII. SIGNATURES
By signing this TRAC agreement, the parties certify that they have read and
agreed to the terms of this document, including Attachment A, Establishments.
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE:

EMPLOYER:
________________________________
(Name of Employer)

(Signature)

(Signature)
BY:

BY:
(Service Representative's Name)

TITLE:

TITLE:

ADDRESS:

ADDRESS:

(Headquarters street address)

(Street address)

(City, state, ZIP code)

(City, state, ZIP code)

DATE:

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DATE: _________________________

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ATTACHMENT A
ESTABLISHMENTS
[format for individual establishments]
Employer
A & B Company
xx-xxxxxxx
Street address
City, state, zip code
[format for chains]
Employer (parent, if applicable)
XYZ Corp.
yy-yyyyyyy
Street address
City, state, zip code
Establishments (if applicable)
AB Restaurant
Street address
City, state, zip code
CD Restaurant
Street address
City, state, zip code
Related entity (if applicable)
UVW Corp.
zz-zzzzzzz
Street address
City, state, zip code
Establishments (if applicable)
EF Restaurant
Street address
City, state, zip code

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