IRS Home Services (TTOC)
Do appliance delivery workers qualify for the No Tax on Tips deduction?
Appliance delivery and installation crews — the two-person teams muscling refrigerators up stairwells and installing washers — are on the IRS Treasury Tipped Occupation Code list. Tipping is common in this work: $10-40 per stop for a hard delivery, more for stairs, haul-away, or a clean install. Delivery fees and install charges on the customer's receipt are retailer revenue; the cash the customer hands the crew is qualified tip income, split across the team.
Short answer
Yes. Appliance delivery and installation workers are on the IRS TTOC list. Voluntary customer tips — for delivery, stairs, haul-away, installation — qualify for the federal No Tax on Tips deduction, up to $25,000 per year. Delivery fees, install charges, and haul-away fees on the receipt are retailer revenue, not tips. Log your personal share of each crew tip.
How much could you save?
Typical tip income for appliance delivery workers.
Full-time appliance delivery crews typically report $2,000-$8,000/year per person in tips. Urban routes with walk-ups and tight stairwells tip best. Third-party delivery contractors (delivering for big-box retailers as 1099 crews) see similar customer behavior with the SE-income cap layered on.
For appliance delivery workers specifically
What counts as a qualified tip — and what doesn't.
✓ Qualifies
- Cash tips at the door after delivery ($10-40 per stop is customary)
- Extra tips for stairs, tight fits, or difficult access
- Tips for haul-away of the old appliance (the voluntary extra, not the fee)
- Tips after a clean installation (hookup, leveling, testing)
✗ Does not qualify
- Delivery fees on the customer's receipt (retailer revenue)
- Installation or haul-away charges the retailer bills
- Per-stop pay or route pay from your employer/contractor
- Damage-waiver or protection-plan revenue
- Fuel surcharges on the order
A worked example
Andre, a real-world appliance delivery and installation worker.
Andre is a two-person appliance delivery crew member on an urban route, W-2, single filer, MAGI $44,000. For the tax year, she logged $5,600 in qualified tips (his half of crew tips across the year). She sits in the 12% federal marginal bracket.
- Deduction allowed: Full $5,600 deduction
- Estimated savings: About $672 off federal income tax
This is an illustrative example, not a guarantee. Your actual savings depend on your filing status, total income, state, and other deductions.
Questions specific to appliance delivery workers
What other appliance delivery workers ask.
Customer handed my partner $40 for the crew. What do I log?
Your share — $20 on an even split. Each crew member logs their own portion. Same-day logging keeps two-person crews consistent; mismatched claims on the same stop is the kind of thing that unravels under scrutiny.
The customer paid a $30 haul-away fee AND tipped us $20. Which counts?
Only the $20. The haul-away fee is retailer revenue even though you did the hauling. The voluntary $20 the customer added is the qualified tip.
We deliver as 1099 contractors for a big-box store. Anything different?
Customer tips qualify the same way. As 1099 workers your deduction is capped at net SE income from the delivery work — truck costs, fuel, and helper pay reduce that net, so track expenses.
A customer tipped us lunch and sodas. Qualified?
No — non-monetary tips are excluded from §224. Cash, card, check, or app only. Enjoy the lunch; log the cash.
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Track every shift
The deduction is real money — if you can prove your tips.
Qualified Tips logs each shift the moment it ends — timestamped, exportable, IRS-aligned.