I’m the principal of Perfecto Financial because 1) I want to work for myself and 2) I want to save small businesses.
And after almost 20 years in sales, I finally discovered how I can do that.
I’m well aware of how bad the economy is.
I realize I can’t save every business.
But I can at least try and do my part, right?
It’s no secret that most small businesses are hurting right now for a variety of reasons and they could use any financial advantage that comes their way.
My singular mission is to advocate for small business owners to strengthen their cash reserves by recovering money they technically overpaid on FICA taxes on their employees’ tips.
You see just last year in 2025, I discovered a little known part of the tax code that allows businesses to do just that and it’s been available to them for over 30 years.
And to be clear, FICA taxes would be the money your business paid toward Social Security and Medicare.
If you think about it, this is money you are paying toward taxes all because we treat tips as taxable wages in this country.
We know the government wants both employers and individuals to report all tips earned from a business’ operation.
So, the unforeseen consequence to business owners is being taxed on money that is neither for them or from them.
When you pay out tips to your employees like you’re supposed to, you, the business owner, are using money from your business bank account but you’re neither earning or funding these wages, yet you’re being taxed on it.
This money simply passes through your POS, your bank account and then your payroll system, but it’s ultimately initiated and funded by the customer.
Regardless of that logic, I know all of this can still be very hard to believe.
Just know, you still have to pay these payroll taxes on your employees tips every year when you file.
However, the IRS does in fact treat this as an overpayment of tax because in 1993 Congress created what is now known as the FICA Tip Credit.
And this only got done under pressure from the Food & Beverage industry.
This is all laid out in section 45B of the Internal Revenue Code if you care to read tax law with your own eyes.
Or just go to the IRS.gov website and see for yourself.
This is an opportunity for small businesses, if they qualify, to recover money they paid toward the FICA taxes on the tips their employees earned.
Business owners just like you can finally realize a much needed cash boost that doesn’t require taking on any kind of debt or giving up any equity.
We’re talking about restaurants, bars, coffee shops, nightclubs, hotels, salons and spas…
Pretty much any business whose employees normally receive tips from customers can claim this tax credit.
There’s an opportunity for most of these businesses,
Think about it, paying taxes on tips your customers are paying to your employees.
I’m sure this sounds like money that could really help your small business right now.
It can help you expand by hiring more workers or increasing your ad budget or just purchasing food, inventory, supplies, or equipment…
Maybe you need a better location or just bigger space.
Quite honestly, you can do whatever you like with it because your business already has to have paid the tax to even claim this credit.
And the best part is, this tax credit represents money you don’t even have to pay back because it was money you already “overpaid” toward Social Security and Medicare.
And again, it’s tax on money that technically isn’t for your business or from your business.
It’s just money that passed through your POS and payroll system.
Paying taxes on it doesn’t seem fair if you stop to think about it.
That’s why the FICA Tip Credit ultimately reduces your business’ overall tax liability and depending on your situation, you can receive this credit in the form of a cash refund and/or a carryforward against future tax liability.
And in case this opportunity wasn’t exciting enough…
If you do in fact qualify based on your tax filings, payroll records, and tip reporting, your food & beverage business can potentially recover up to 3 past tax years worth of FICA taxes that you paid on your employees’ tips.
That’s right.
The FICA TIP Credit is effectively money falling out of the sky all thanks to our good friends at the Internal Revenue Service.
Make no mistake about it.
The government knows businesses shouldn’t be paying taxes on their employees’ tips but they haven’t changed the law to make it exempt because they need to generate tax revenue.
Treating tips as taxable wages accomplishes that but it also requires accurate reporting on behalf of employers and employees.
The FICA Tip Credit was designed to encourage and reward employers for tip reporting compliance to the IRS.
They just want to see if you’ll jump through a bunch of hoops to actually recover this money.
Otherwise, they just keep the money.
And, no, your CPA doesn’t automatically know about this credit just because they file your taxes every year.
You would know if you got this tax credit recovered so don’t just assume your CPA handles all things financially related to your very unique business.
Large hospitality groups, franchises, and well-known restaurant chains miss this credit every year and they obviously stand to gain the most by it.
The reality is not every accounting professional knows every section of the U.S. tax code.
While it’s common to think accountants work mostly on tax preparation, other accounting firms may shift some of their focus to specialize in other advisory services such as the recovery of a general business credit (GBC).
So here’s the distinction of this opportunity: Unlike deductions which simply lower your business’ taxable income, the FICA Tip Credit directly reduces your actual tax bill.
In other words, a tax credit is, dollar-for-dollar, more beneficial than a simple deduction because you are claiming money back from the IRS which ultimately reduces your tax liability.
Again this opportunity isn’t going anywhere since it’s been in the tax code since 1993 and the scope of it was recently expanded in 2025 to apply to beauty and wellness businesses that also have tipped W-2 workers.
That means if you’ve been operating in a food & beverage or hospitality business for more than a few years and you’ve been paying FICA taxes on your employees’ tips, you’ve probably been missing out on claiming this money and there’s a massive opportunity right in front of you.
And just to be clear, I’m not talking about the “No Tax On Tips” legislation here.
That’s a completely separate opportunity available to W-2 employees and their own personal tax filings.
The FICA Tip Credit is only for employers to claim which naturally makes these claims one of the most routinely audited by the IRS.
Recovering money through this tax credit involves unique calculations regarding your payroll and discrepancies of just $1 dollar can trigger an audit.
And of course, there are a lot of bad actors who make fraudulent attempts at claiming this tax credit which of course makes the IRS pay a lot of attention to these claims.
I realize being able to make the IRS give you back money that you already paid toward Social Security and Medicare can be hard to believe and maybe even scarier to recover.
Which is precisely why I’m recommending you take advantage of the highly experienced team of Enrolled Agents I’ve put together who are specially credentialed by the IRS and can expertly recover these business tax credits.
Legally authorized to represent taxpayers in front of the IRS, our Enrolled Agents are also certified public accountants.
So they’re not tax attorneys, but they in fact have both of the two financial credentials an individual would need to represent a taxpayer in front of the IRS.
They can perform the complete credit recovery process with confidence.
Once the appropriate tax documentation & payroll records have been collected, an Enrolled Agent will calculate a business’ potential credit by analyzing payroll records and corresponding tip data, file finalized IRS paperwork, and track the status of your credit all the way until you get your refund.
There is no need to replace your CPA if you already have one.
You don’t need to know about tax credits to be a great CPA.
This team of Enrolled Agent CPA’s is going to complement them by collaborating with your accountant or bookkeeper to keep your tax records clean, accurate, and IRS-ready for future credits.
And because the IRS can take months to process and fund a tax credit, if your business is eligible, you have the option of receiving an advance of your credit so you can put that money to work for your business sooner than later.
But if you’re willing to wait for this money from the IRS, you can simply optimize how much you actually end up receiving without opting for an advance.
So how do you check your eligibility for this FICA Tip credit?
Well if you’ve gotten this far, you probably already know you regularly pay taxes on your W-2 payroll.
You see, you had to have already paid FICA taxes on your employee’s tips to even apply for this credit.
If there’s no meat on the bone, nobody eats.
The FICA Tip Credit has a very unique calculation based on your industry, tax filings, payroll records, and tip reporting.
Plus, just to complicate things further, the IRS threw in a few rules and exceptions that will apply to some businesses and certain employees.
And if you feel comfortable in attempting to recover this money on your own because you have a CPA or you have a family member or friend who’s a tax preparer, just know that you are potentially opening your business up to an audit by the IRS where it would be in your best interest to at least have an experienced tax credit professional file for you and be willing and able to represent you on your behalf in front of the IRS if the situation requires it.
If you already trust someone who can do that for you, by all means, be the one to educate them on this credit and hand them the deal if they’re a tax or accounting professional.
Or if you’re the type of person who prefers to leave the party with the person you came with or give credit where credit is due, Perfecto Financial can help you generate an extra revenue stream for your business just by advocating for others to claim this FICA tip credit for their business.
As an added benefit, every client of ours will receive an affiliate link and a landing page for promoting this service to other business owners who might qualify.
You’ll be able to share this incredible opportunity with other people just like yourself who deserve to get this money returned to them.
With Perfecto Financial, you’re not just recovering a tax credit for your business…
You’ll be part of a movement empowering not just your own small business, but many others in your community well into the future.
And you will be well compensated along the way.
Now, you don’t have to share this opportunity with your direct competitor if you don’t want to, but… a rising tide lifts all boats.
I always tell folks, “Share it with the brands you care about.”
If you do end up finding success taking your own path toward getting this tax credit, reach back out to me and share your win.
The social proof is for the entire small business community to benefit from.
We could use as much help as we can get to spread the word about this opportunity and keep businesses open if not thriving.
There is no cost to see if you qualify.
Our recovery fee is contingency-based which means we get compensated if and when you get funded.
I invite you to schedule a call and either myself or another advisor will walk you through the process.
We’ll help you understand what documents our Enrolled Agents require to review any tax file, answer any questions we're able to answer, and then schedule an appointment with one of our partner agents.
Just click the link below, let us know some information about your business, and then pick a time when you know you can get into the details and start the recovery process.
