Coffee Shops & Snack Bars NAICS 722515

Jun 14, 2025 - No Tax on Tips

• The National Restaurant Association applauded the House’s passage of HR 1 (better known as President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”), in May calling it a “major victory” for restaurant owners and employees. In a statement, the NRA cited the bill’s tax provisions, including the 199A qualified business income deduction, full expensing of capital investments, and the reinstatement of depreciation and amortization in calculating business interest expenses as vital for growth in an industry with pre-tax margins of just 3-5%. The budget proposal also includes the No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime provisions. The NRA said the elimination of federal income taxes on tipped wages would benefit more than two million tipped servers and bartenders, while the overtime provisions would reward over 13 million hourly restaurant workers. The bill awaits a vote in the Senate. Separately, Sen. Ted Cruz’s No Tax on Tips Act passed the Senate by unanimous vote in May.
• A federal judge has dismissed allegations that Peet’s Coffee discriminated against the lactose intolerant by charging extra for non-dairy alternative milks, Bloomberg Law reported in May. The proposed class action suit brought by Keith Gibson Law (KGL) alleged Peet’s violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to make accommodations for people with milk allergies and imposing a surcharge despite a lack of meaningful differences between the cost of regular and non-dairy milks. In his dismissal the judge ruled “Peet’s pricing policy is facially neutral and applies equally to customers who are not lactose intolerant but prefer non-dairy alternatives in their drinks.” KGL has filed similar lawsuits against numerous coffee chains, including most recently, Dunkin’, all of which have been dismissed. Amid consumer pushback against surcharges for non-dairy milks Peet’s, along with Starbucks, Dunkin’ and other coffee chains have recently stopped charging extra for non-dairy milks.

• According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2025 Off-Premises Restaurant Trends report nearly 75% of all restaurant traffic now occurs off-premises through takeout, delivery, or drive-thru. “Off-premises dining has become a key revenue driver and an essential way to engage consumers,” said the NRA’s chief economist Dr. Chad Moutray, adding “It now accounts for a larger share of sales for 58% of limited-service operators compared with 2019.” Nearly two-thirds (65%) of limited-service operators now offer delivery, with many expecting curbside and dedicated takeout areas to become even more common this year. Nearly half (47%) of adults surveyed say they pick up takeout from restaurants, coffee shops, snack places or delis at least once a week, while 42% report using the drive-thru on a weekly basis.
• President Trump’s tariff blitz threatens to raise the price of coffee drinks, CBS News reports. Currently, there is a 10% base global tariff in place on all US coffee imports. Countries including India, Indonesia, Vietnam and other coffee-producing nations are subject to even higher levies, which the administration has paused for 90 days. A mere 1% of the coffee consumed in the US is sourced domestically, mostly from Hawaii and Puerto Rico, according to the National Coffee Association. The rest – 99% of raw coffee beans – is imported. Coffee bean prices were already soaring due to unfavorable weather in key producing countries, including Brazil and Colombia, before tariffs threatened to raise prices even more. The duties, called "reciprocal tariffs," are making it more expensive for coffee shops to import beans and absorb other costs of doing business, with some shops already passing their elevated costs on to customers.