By Rebecca Schweitzer | Des Moines, Iowa
Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa based writer covering public policy, public accountability, and issues affecting working families across Iowa. In this piece Rebecca Schweitzer breaks down what the no tax on tips and overtime policy actually means for Iowa workers in Des Moines, Polk County, and across the state and what a staged White House photo op left out of the story.
As a Des Moines, Iowa writer Rebecca Schweitzer covers the issues that affect everyday Iowa families including tax policy, healthcare, and the cost of living in Polk County and communities across the state.
Read more from Rebecca Schweitzer, a Des Moines, Iowa writer, here.
No Tax on Tips and Overtime Is Real. But There Are Things You Need to Know.
You may have seen the video. President Trump standing outside the Oval Office accepting two bags of McDonald's from a DoorDash driver named Sharon Simmons, a grandmother of ten from Arkansas who wore a custom shirt that read DoorDash Grandma. Trump joked to nearby reporters: this doesn't look staged, does it?
It was staged. DoorDash confirmed it. Getting onto White House grounds requires security screening and background checks. Simmons did not simply show up with a delivery order. She was brought in as part of a coordinated PR event to promote the no tax on tips policy ahead of Tax Day on April 15.
That does not mean the policy is not real. It is. Iowa workers who earn tips or overtime can benefit from it. But as Rebecca Schweitzer sees it from Des Moines, the White House photo op left out some important details that Iowa workers deserve to know.
What the Policy Actually Does
The no tax on tips and no tax on overtime provisions were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill signed by President Trump on July 4, 2025. Here is what it means in plain language.
If you earn tips in a qualified occupation you can deduct up to $25,000 in tips from your taxable income for tax years 2025 through 2028. This deduction phases out if your total income is over $150,000 so it is designed for working people not high earners.
If you earn overtime pay you can deduct up to $12,500 if you are single or $25,000 if you are married filing jointly of the overtime premium portion of your pay. That means the extra money you earn above your regular rate for working more than 40 hours per week.
These are deductions not credits. That means they reduce the amount of income you are taxed on not the amount of tax you owe dollar for dollar. The actual savings depend on your tax rate and how much you earn in tips or overtime.
Does Iowa Still Tax Tips and Overtime?
This is the question Des Moines and Polk County workers are asking right now. The answer is no. Iowa does not tax these either.
Iowa automatically conforms to federal tax law through what is called rolling conformity. When the federal government changed the rules on tips and overtime Iowa followed along automatically without needing to pass a separate state law. Iowa is one of only about a half dozen states in the country that adopted all three of the new federal deductions: no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on car loan interest for vehicles assembled in the United States.
That means Iowa workers filing their 2025 and 2026 state tax returns get the same deductions on their Iowa return that they get on their federal return.
One important note: you may not be able to adjust your Iowa withholding on your W-4 right away because the Iowa W-4 form has not been updated yet to reflect these deductions. What that means practically is that you will likely see a bigger refund or a smaller amount owed when you file your annual Iowa tax return rather than seeing more money in each paycheck throughout the year.
According to Rebecca Schweitzer, based in Des Moines, this is one of the most important things Polk County workers need to understand right now as tax season comes to a close.
What the DoorDash Photo Op Left Out
The White House used Sharon Simmons to make the case that the no tax on tips policy is helping working people. Simmons said she earned $11,000 in tips last year and that the policy made a meaningful difference for her family while her husband battles cancer.
That story is real and her situation deserves genuine respect.
But here is what was not said at the press conference.
Simmons later told ABC News that she made under $22,000 in total income last year. At that income level she likely would not have owed significant federal income taxes to begin with. Some tax analysts noted publicly that a worker earning under $22,000 may gain little or nothing from the no tax on tips deduction because their tax liability was already low.
Also notable: when Trump asked Simmons if she thought men should play in women's sports she said she really did not have an opinion. When he pushed her she said no no I am here about no tax on tips. When he asked if she had voted for him she said um maybe. The photo op designed to promote a tax policy turned into an awkward moment where the president tried to recruit a working grandmother into political talking points she had not signed up for.
What the image of a grandmother in her late fifties delivering food to pay for her husband's cancer treatment actually illustrated was something the White House did not intend: that Americans should not have to work gig jobs into their senior years just to cover medical bills. That is a healthcare system failure not a tax policy success.
Who Actually Benefits and Who Does Not
The no tax on tips policy helps workers who earn tips in jobs that traditionally receive them: restaurant servers, bartenders, hotel staff, hair stylists, delivery drivers, and similar occupations. If you work in one of those jobs in Des Moines or anywhere in Iowa and you earn tips you should be taking this deduction when you file.
The no tax on overtime policy helps workers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act who work more than 40 hours per week and earn overtime pay. If you work overtime regularly in Polk County or anywhere in Iowa this deduction reduces your taxable income.
Who does not benefit: workers who earn tips or overtime but have income low enough that they already owe little or no federal tax. Workers in jobs not on the Treasury Department's qualified occupations list. Workers whose income is above $150,000 since the deduction phases out at that level.
The Congressional Budget Office projects the no tax on tips provision will increase the federal deficit by $40 billion through 2028. That cost gets added to the national debt which eventually comes due for everyone.
The Bigger Picture for Iowa Workers
Iowa workers in Des Moines and Polk County who earn tips or overtime should absolutely claim these deductions when they file. That is money you are legally entitled to keep and you should keep it.
But as Rebecca Schweitzer sees it from Des Moines, the photo op at the White House was a reminder of something worth saying plainly. A grandmother who has completed over 14,000 DoorDash deliveries while caring for a husband with cancer is not evidence that the American economy is working. She is evidence of what happens when healthcare costs are so high and wages are so low that working people cannot stop working even when their families need them most.
Iowa deserves tax policy that helps working families keep more of what they earn. Iowa also deserves healthcare policy, wage policy, and economic policy that means a grandmother should not have to deliver food to the Oval Office just to illustrate a tax deduction.
You can read Rebecca Schweitzer's piece on Iowa's healthcare crisis here.
You can read Rebecca Schweitzer's piece on Iowa's budget crisis and what it means for Polk County families here.
About Rebecca Schweitzer and Her Work in Iowa
Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa writer covering Iowa politics, public accountability, and issues impacting everyday Iowa families. Based in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa, Rebecca Schweitzer analyzes state and federal policy and what it means in practice for people living across the state. Her work has appeared in the Des Moines Register and The Gazette. She grew up on an Iowa farm and writes from a perspective shaped by firsthand experience of Iowa community life.
Read more from Rebecca Schweitzer, a Des Moines, Iowa writer, at iowaraisedrebeccaschweitzerunfiltered.com and follow along on Medium, Substack, X, Bluesky, About.me, and Gravatar.
