Tipping

The most important part of being a server is our income. Our income is our tips. No I am not a money grubbing whore who needs extra cash every night. I really do live off of my tips! People may think "well the company pays them so I shouldn't have to." These people do not understand how this works. Let me explain. First I have to tip out a percentage of my sales. At the current place I work at it is 5%. That means if I sell to you $50.00 worth of food I must pay other people (like the bartender, busier ext.) $2.50 total for your meal. That means if you do not tip me, it actually cost me money to serve you. Also the IRS taxes our income with tips, we are required by law to declare 8% of our sales every day to be taxed on. So if I do not make at least an 8% tip off of every table it cost me money to serve.
Side note-
Yes I know what you are thinking, not everyone declares their tips to the IRS. Well those people are mentally f*cking retarded! This great country that we live in rotates around income. To live in my apartment I need to make 3x the rent on my paychecks. I make about 400 a month from my employer. However I declare about 2,000 a month in tips. I would not be able to live in this hell hole if not for me declaring at least 8% of my sales every day.
off side note
So the question most people are asking at this point is how should I tip? The answer is simple.
10% after tax= you did a super shitty job
15% after tax=ok I got my food and drink whatever
20% after tax=good service you met all of my needs
25% after tax=great service or
=my wife is a bitch sorry!

and yes I have gotten that last one on many occasions.