Is my bridal package price a tip?

No. The package price and any booking fee are your service revenue. Only a voluntary gratuity the client or wedding party adds on top — and that you reported as income — is a deductible tip.

I freelance and get 1099s from a few platforms. How do I claim it?

As a self-employed artist in a tipped occupation, capped at your net business income. You separate the tip portion of each 1099 (and your cash gratuities) from your service fees — the step platform tax summaries don't do.

I do makeup as a side gig on top of a day job. Am I eligible?

Yes. Reported tips from your makeup work count toward the single $25,000 cap, subject to the income phase-out. A review looks at your whole return, including tips from any other tipped role.

Is my bridal package price a tip?

No. The package price and any booking fee are your service revenue. Only a voluntary gratuity the client or wedding party adds on top — and that you reported as income — is a deductible tip.

I freelance and get 1099s from a few platforms. How do I claim it?

As a self-employed artist in a tipped occupation, capped at your net business income. You separate the tip portion of each 1099 (and your cash gratuities) from your service fees — the step platform tax summaries don't do.

I do makeup as a side gig on top of a day job. Am I eligible?

Yes. Reported tips from your makeup work count toward the single $25,000 cap, subject to the income phase-out. A review looks at your whole return, including tips from any other tipped role.

Tip Tax Deduction for Makeup Artists (2025): Freelance & Salon

Makeup artists are a listed tipped occupation, so reported tips deduct from federal taxable income up to $25,000 through 2028, with or without itemizing. MUA work spans counter and salon employment, freelance bridal and event work, and content-driven brand work — and the tax treatment follows the setup.

Salon- or counter-employed artists on a W-2 deduct the tips reported on the wage statement. Freelance and bridal MUAs are self-employed: card and app tips arrive on a 1099, cash and gratuities from wedding parties go on their own records, and the deduction caps at the net income of the business. A booking fee or a bridal package price is service revenue, not a tip — only the gratuity added on top, if reported, qualifies.

The deduction reduces federal income tax, not self-employment tax, and phases out above $150,000 ($300,000 joint). Freelance MUAs are the most likely to have missed it in 2025, because event income arrives as a mix of deposits, package fees, and cash gratuities that software rolls into one revenue number. A 1040-X recovers it.

Figures above are screening estimates under the 2025 federal rules (P.L. 119-21), not tax advice. A licensed professional confirms actual amounts from your W-2 and filed return before anything is submitted to the IRS. Learn more at the 2025 Refund Checkup.

The tip deduction for makeup artists.

What makeup artists actually ask.

Is my bridal package price a tip?

I freelance and get 1099s from a few platforms. How do I claim it?

I do makeup as a side gig on top of a day job. Am I eligible?

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