Skip to content
OBBBA Deductions
Menu

Are landscapers and groundskeepers tips tax deductible in 2026?

Yes — landscapers and groundskeepers are on the IRS tipped occupation list (code 402). Tips in this job are deductible for 2026, up to $25,000, if the customer chose the amount and could have declined.

Treasury Tipped Occupation Code 402 · Home services · official title: Home Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers

How tipping works in this job

Residential lawn and garden work is tipped seasonally rather than per visit: a crew that has cut the same lawn every week all summer is often given something at the end of the season or at the holidays. Storm cleanups and one-off heavy jobs draw larger same-day cash tips. Crews usually split whatever is handed over.

The regulations say: Landscape or maintain grounds of property using hand or power tools or equipment. Workers typically perform a variety of tasks, which may include any combination of the following: sod laying, mowing, trimming, planting, watering, fertilizing, digging, raking, sprinkler installation, and installation of mortarless segmental concrete masonry wall units. Examples given: Lawn mower, gardener, tree trimmer, weed sprayer.

The thing most likely to disqualify your tips

Commercial contracts fall outside this code. The occupation is “home landscaping and groundskeeping”, so hours spent maintaining an office park, a municipal site or a strip mall are not covered — if you split your week between residential and commercial accounts, only the residential side generates qualifying tips.

Check your own numbers

Pre-filled for landscapers and groundskeepers. Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

Step 1 — your occupation

Checking for Landscapers and groundskeepers (Treasury code 402). This occupation is on the list.

Step 2 — is it actually a tip?

Answer for the money you are asking about. If some of your income is tips and some is service charges, run them separately.

Does the customer decide the amount?

A tip has to be an amount the payer chose. A percentage set by your employer or written into a contract is not.

Can the customer decline to pay it?

A tip is voluntary. If the customer had no way to refuse it, it is a charge.

Is it a mandatory service charge or auto-gratuity?

Auto-gratuity on large parties, resort service charges, contracted event gratuities.

Step 3 — your tips and income

The phase-out runs on modified AGI, which for most people is the same as AGI.

How were these tips earned?

3 questions left to answer.

OBBBA Deductions · obbbadeductions.com

Tips deduction worksheet — tax year 2026

Landscapers and groundskeepers (code 402) · Single · Prepared October 1, 2026

The three tests, as answered

  • Does the customer decide the amount? not answered
  • Can the customer decline to pay it? not answered
  • Is it a mandatory service charge or auto-gratuity? not answered

Answer the 3 remaining questions above for a result.

Watch out for this in your job: Commercial contracts fall outside this code. The occupation is “home landscaping and groundskeeping”, so hours spent maintaining an office park, a municipal site or a strip mall are not covered — if you split your week between residential and commercial accounts, only the residential side generates qualifying tips.

Educational estimate only, not tax advice. It runs entirely in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere. The deduction is scheduled to expire after tax year 2028.

Estimate only, not tax advice. This site is general information, not tax advice. Figures are estimates and may not reflect the final IRS guidance for the tax year. Confirm your situation with a qualified tax professional or the IRS before filing.

Occupation list and tip tests from T.D. 10044; cap and phase-out from Schedule 1-A Part II. Figures on this site were last checked September 8, 2026. Produced by obbbadeductions.com — nothing entered into the calculator left the browser it was typed into.

How this applies to landscapers and groundskeepers

Residential grounds work is tipped on a seasonal clock rather than a weekly one. A crew that has cut the same lawn every Thursday since April is rarely handed anything on any given Thursday; the money comes at the end of the season, or in December, as a lump from a homeowner who has had a summer of not thinking about the grass. That pattern means a mid-year estimate of the year’s tips will be close to zero and badly wrong.

The exceptions are the jobs nobody planned. Storm cleanups, a tree down across a drive, an emergency clearance before a family event, a spring restoration after a hard winter — these draw same-day cash and larger amounts, from homeowners who can see how much work just happened. Crews split it, usually evenly, sometimes with a larger share to whoever ran the machinery.

The eligibility boundary here is unusually consequential because so many outfits do both kinds of work. The code is written for home landscaping and groundskeeping. Time spent maintaining an office park, a municipal verge, a shopping centre or an HOA’s commercial common areas is not the occupation described, and no tip from that side of the business supports this deduction. Crews that spend three days a week on commercial contracts and two on residential accounts should expect their qualifying tips to come from those two days.

The contract itself never contributes. An annual maintenance agreement, a per-visit rate, a fuel surcharge and a green-waste disposal fee are all prices. Homeowners occasionally point at an annual contract and say it covers everything, which is accurate as far as the work goes and irrelevant to whether anything extra was a gratuity.

The three tests, whatever your job

  • Paid voluntarily

    The customer sets the amount and can decline to pay it.

  • Paid in cash or a cash equivalent

    Card payments and mobile payments count.

  • Received directly or through a tip pool

    Both routes qualify.

Questions

Are landscapers and groundskeepers on the IRS tipped occupation list?
Yes. Home Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers is Treasury Tipped Occupation Code 402, in the home services category. The regulations describe it as: Landscape or maintain grounds of property using hand or power tools or equipment. Workers typically perform a variety of tasks, which may include any combination of the following: sod laying, mowing, trimming, planting, watering, fertilizing, digging, raking, sprinkler installation, and installation of mortarless segmental concrete masonry wall units.
What is the most common reason landscapers and groundskeepers lose the deduction?
Commercial contracts fall outside this code. The occupation is “home landscaping and groundskeeping”, so hours spent maintaining an office park, a municipal site or a strip mall are not covered — if you split your week between residential and commercial accounts, only the residential side generates qualifying tips.
How much of my tips can I deduct?
Up to $25,000 per return, whatever your filing status. The cap applies first, then the amount is reduced by $100 for every $1,000 of modified adjusted gross income above the threshold for your filing status.
Does a mandatory service charge count as a tip?
No. A mandatory service charge or automatic gratuity is not a qualifying tip, and the final regulations confirmed this explicitly. It does not qualify even when the customer cannot decline it — a qualifying tip has to be an amount the customer chose to give.

Related occupations in home services

Occupation data transcribed from T.D. 10044 — final regulations on occupations that customarily and regularly received tips, Treas. Reg. § 1.224-1(h) table 1, last verified 2026-09-08. Read the regulations.