How to relaunch catering? Detaxing tips paid by credit card. At least this is the recipe of the French president Emmanuel Macron, who announced that in the coming months the measure will come into force to help not only restaurateurs but above all to attract new workforce, given that tips represent a good part of the salary and detax those paid with Carte Bleue (the digital payment system used in France) "would increase the purchasing power of employees". Furthermore, in France, unlike in Italy, digital payments are now predominant even in restaurants and bars: "Our fellow citizens use cash less and less", added the president on the occasion of the international hotel trade fair in Lyon, specifying that the measure, to be included in the 2022 Budget Law, "will be at no cost", precisely because today almost everyone pays by debit card or app and therefore they simply do not tip. And in the case of a tip paid in cash, it obviously escaped taxation
However, being able to add it to the bill and pay it directly by credit card, at no cost to either the operator or the worker, it is therefore clear that more people will be encouraged to give it, directly rounding up the amount to be paid and thus triggering – according to the intentions of Macron – a virtuous circle, which can once again make the catering professions a little more attractive. Who, in this moment of post-pandemic restart, lived in France as in Italy difficulty in finding manpower especially for the tourist season summer: "Un secteur en manque de bras", said the president, that is a sector where today there is simply a lack of arms, manpower. “With this measure, employers will be able to tell young and old: you have the opportunity to earn more than your salary,” added Macron. In France, bars and restaurants are finding it particularly difficult to get back on track after the collapse of 2020: again from January to July 2021, turnover was almost halved compared to the same period of 2019 (57 billion) with attendance at the premises decreased by 39% . According to forecasts, it will return to pre-Covid levels only in 2023.
