👛 Tip anxiety

…and the IRS stays home   How it feels deciding between 18% and 25% (Liz Hafalia/Getty Images)   [Sponsored by]( Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 35,438 (+0.08%) S&P 500 4,567 (+0.28%) Nasdaq 14,145 (+0.61%) Bitcoin $29,22 (+0.17%) Dow Jones 35,438 (+0.08%) S&P 500 4,567 (+0.28%) Nasdaq 14,145 (+0.61%) Bitcoin $29,22 (+0.17%) Hey Snackers, McNuggets are headed to the metaverse. [McDonald’s]( is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its famous bites in a [virtual world]( where visitors can play games with walking chicken nuggets. The Dow notched its 12th day in the green and the S&P 500 recorded a 52-week high as recession fears continued to ease. After the bell, [Google]( shares jumped following an earnings beat, while [Microsoft]( and [Snap]( slid. Today the Fed is expected to hike interest rates. Guilt-Tip “Tip fatigue” is spreading as Americans grow frustrated with ubiquitous prompts $4 bottle of juice, 20% tip… Call it tip anxiety. Tipping prompts are popping up seemingly everywhere, from bakeries to repair shops — even at airport self-checkout machines. Payments screens from companies like [Square]( and [Toast]( are now ubiquitous in the US, letting merchants who’d never asked for tips before add a preset gratuity. A lot of folks say they feel pressured to tip on small purchases as screens display their selection to everyone in the checkout line. - Tip fatigue is growing: Two-thirds of Americans have a negative view of tipping, with 30% saying tipping culture has gotten out of control, a recent Bankrate [survey]( suggested. - Tips vs. wages: 41% of respondents said they believe businesses should pay employees more rather than relying so heavily on tips. “Tip creep” is intensifying… as businesses far beyond restaurants [rely]( on tips to keep workers without raising wages. The trend took off during pandemic lockdowns, when customers upped gratuity to hospitality, service, and essential workers, who were putting their health at risk. But after the pandemic waned, the trend has remained. Some employers with slim margins are still relying on tips to stay profitable, rather than locking themselves into more wage increases. - Wage growth for the lowest-paid US workers has [fallen]( sharply postpandemic, after this group saw faster-than-average record pay gains in 2020-22. - Leisure and hospitality workers made an average of $21/hour last month, up from $16.50 in June 2019. THE TAKEAWAY There may be a limit to tip creep... As tips and other fees inflate the cost of everyday purchases, consumers may grow hesitant to even go out, opting to brew their coffee at home and order things online instead of spending in brick-and-mortars. Americans are already tipping less often than they did at the pandemic’s peak. Worker comp could suffer from tip fatigue if employers don’t raise wages. But higher wages could = even higher prices. Sponsored by Masterworks How 775,000 everyday people are beating billionaires at their own game When incredibly rare and valuable assets come up for sale, it's typically the 1% of the wealthiest people that end up taking home an amazing investment. But not always… One platform is taking on the billionaires at their own game, buying up and securitizing some of history’s most prized blue-chip artworks for its investors. So, instead of hanging on the walls of a $500 million yacht, these world-class assets are collectively owned by tens of thousands of everyday investors. It's called [Masterworks](. Their nearly $1 billion collection includes works by greats like Banksy, Picasso, and Basquiat. You know, the same artists in their collections. Then, when Masterworks sells a painting – like the 14 it's already sold – investors reap their portion of the net proceeds. It's easy to get started but offerings can sell out in minutes. However, as a trusted partner, Snacks readers can [skip the waitlist to join with this exclusive link]( Taxnation IRS stops surprise tax visits as part of a digital makeover to collect big-time debts Knock knock: it’s the tax collector… In a win for everyone who won’t answer the door without an “I’m here” text, the Internal Revenue Service is [halting]( its practice of sending agents to collect tax debts. They’ve knocked on tens of thousands of doors each year since the ’50s, but their visits are now going to be limited to the hundreds — summonses, subpoenas, and seizures only. Going forward, the agency says it’ll send letters requesting that overdue taxpayers schedule an office visit instead. - Safety first: The IRS wants to protect its employees, who’ve faced increasing threats. Getting agents off the sidewalk dovetails with the agency’s plan to become “digital first” (and could reduce scammers who pose as tax agents). Death and (online) taxes… The Biden admin approved $80B for the IRS to “modernize” its agency over 10 years. Even though Republicans have wrangled that down by ~$21B, the cut’s not expected to affect the IRS’s immediate spending plans — which include updating its computer systems and using AI to analyze taxpayer data. Big fish: The agency said it plans to use its new tech to crack down on high earners, adding that it won’t increase audits on households making under $400K. The IRS said that in recent months it’s collected $38M in tax debts from 175 high-income taxpayers. THE TAKEAWAY Find coins in the couch first… because raising taxes is hard. After the Biden admin’s efforts to hike corporate and capital-gains taxes were met with opposition and scaled back, it’s focusing on existing IOUs. Read: scraping up money it left on the table (tax debts) as a workaround to seeking new revenue (raising taxes). It’s estimated the IRS could rake in an extra $200B over the next decade using its new tech and bulked-up budget. What else we're Snackin' - [Cloudy]( Microsoft reported its strongest quarterly profit, though revenue growth slowed to under 10% for three straight quarters for the first time since 2017. Expenses popped as it invested in AI data centers. - [Result]( Alphabet beat expectations (despite cooling growth) as advertisers continued to shell out big $$ for Google and YouTube spots. Search revenue rose as Googlers still outweighed ChatGPT-ers. - [Shipped]( [UPS]( and the Teamsters reached a tentative deal on pay raises and workplace safety for 340K workers, likely averting what could’ve been one of the largest (and costliest) strikes in US history. - [Cart]( TikTok said it’s going to roll out a US ecomm biz for Made in China goods, aiming to sell $20B in merch globally this year. It’ll compete with Chinese e-retailers Shein and Temu, which have gained popularity in America. - [Aux]( [Spotify]( added a record 36M new monthly listeners last quarter, but shares fell 14%+ after a larger-than-expected loss and weak forecast. The streamer is cutting costs as it chases profitability. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. Snack Fact Of the Day As of Monday, nearly 80% of US companies that reported Q2 earnings had beat estimates [Read more]( Wednesday - Samsung Galaxy Unpacked - Earnings expected from Meta, Boeing, Coke, Union Pacific, Chipotle, AT&T, Hilton, eBay, and Mattel  Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alphabet, Amazon, Mattel, Microsoft, and Snap *Advertiser Disclosure: See important disclosures at [masterworks.com/cd](. 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