Over the last few years, as food, labor and property costs have increased, a new trend has emerged to help offset the cost of accepting credit cards called Surcharging. By now, you might have experienced this practice in restaurants and retail stores, but there still lies confusion around the Surcharging rules and who enforces them.

In the State of Wisconsin, it is legal to charge a surcharge to credit cards as long as the customer is notified in writing prior to checking out. It is against card brand rules to add a surcharge to sales completed by debit card, regardless of using the debit card or credit card network. You must also apply the same surcharge amount to all cards and cannot offer a cash discount in conjunction with surcharging. In short, it must be one or the other across the board.

What’s changing?
Starting April 15, 2023, Visa will be imposing a maximum of 3% surcharge rule for all credit cards to help recoup some or all of the card processing costs.  Visa’s decision to reduce this from 4% to 3% is due in part to an increase in surcharge related violations and confusion around the rules.

What would happen if we chose not to follow card brand rules?
Visa employs secret shoppers as well as a public facing document for violation reporting. If caught, a cease and desist letter is sent, followed by fines up to $10,000 PER OCCURENCE. If the business or business owner continually repeats the offense, Visa can remove their ability to accept Visa cards permanently.

What’s next? 
If you are currently surcharging, ensure your point of sale can detect debit vs credit cards so that a surcharge is not mistakenly added to a debit card. Also, ensure that your surcharge does not exceed 3% to the customer. 

Finally, update your in store and/or menu signage to reflect this change and create transparency for the customer. 

Special thanks to Heartland Payment Systems for providing this information.

ServSafe is the premier provider of materials and programs specifically for the restaurant industry and is accredited by ANSI and the Conference for Food Protection. For the past 30 years, ServSafe has been an industry leading program dedicated to protecting restaurant professionals, customers, and communities from foodborne illness.
 
The Wisconsin Restaurant Association Education Foundation’s (WRAEF) mission is to support industry education and training programs. Here in Wisconsin, ServSafe is administered by the WRAEF with 100% of the net proceeds going directly towards workforce development efforts.
 
ServSafe training keeps customers safe:

• ServSafe food safety training prevents foodborne illness in Wisconsin restaurants.
• ServSafe certification ensures that restaurant employees follow best practices for food safety and sanitation.
• The Wisconsin Restaurant Association takes food safety very seriously—in fact the Association was founded with the purpose of reducing the incidence of foodborne illness in our state. 

ServSafe training is an investment in employees:

• Employees gain critical food safety knowledge from ServSafe training.
• The ServSafe credential is earned by the employee and remains with them wherever they choose to work.
• A vast majority of employers pay for their employees ServSafe training, rarely does an employee pay for their own certification.

The Suite of ServSafe programs include:

• ServSafe Manager,
• ServSafe Food Handler,
• ServSafe Alcohol,
• ServSafe Allergens, and
• ServSafe Workplace which includes courses for workplace conduct and safety for both managers and employees.

​We encourage you to consider these training opportunities for yourself and your staff. For more information about these programs go to: wirestaurant.org/servsafe

WRA Annual Meeting
Monday, February 6th, 2023 at 9:00 am
Virtually streaming from the Concourse Hotel, Madison

Information on how to connect remotely to the annual meeting will be posted in mid-January.

Click here to find the agenda, 2022 minutes and a proxy form link if you are unable to attend and would like a WRA representative to cast your vote for you.

If you will not be attending, please click here to send back the proxy notice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call your WRA office at 800.589.3211.

The IRS is warning small businesses about “improper” claims for the employee retention tax credit (ERTC). As you know, restaurants were uniquely qualified for the COVID-related ERTC due to partial closure orders and/or revenue declines in 2020 and three calendar quarters of 2021. 

However, the IRS is reporting that some third-party companies are offering bad advice to small businesses regarding eligibility or the estimated value of the ERTC. 

We urge you to closely review the information from the IRS. Click here to see the IRS press release. 

An ERC Company That You Can Rely On 
We at the Wisconsin Restaurant Association know how important it is to be comfortable with the companies that you choose to do business with. Especially when it involves your finances. WRA, along with many of its other state restaurant association partners across the country, has partnered with Adesso Capital to offer ERC filing services. Adesso provides concierge financial services to small and mid-sized businesses. And when the pandemic drove business into a downturn, Adesso assembled a team of tax experts to help businesses maximize the federal COVID relief available to them.

Adesso takes compliance and qualifications very seriously. Adesso also has other guardrails in place to protect their clients. 

1. Their ERC consultants and CPAs are well-versed with changes to IRS and CARES Act regulations and ongoing Guidance.
2. Adesso only submits amended payroll tax returns that cover impacted quarters. They validate the beginning and end-dates for COVID-related Government Orders and maintain a database of these for all 50 States.
3. They appropriately coordinate ERC benefits with other Federal Covid relief, including PPP, RRF, EFMLA, EPSLA, and WOTC benefits, as required by law.
4. All information their CPAs include in filings, particularly concerning a business’ revenue drop, can be backed by verifiable documentation.
5. Adesso stands behind their ERC-Filings with free Audit Protection, standard with every filing, to answer any questions that the IRS may have if audited.

Click here to read Adesso’s statement on the recent IRS warning.
 
Q2 2023 Deadline for Q2 2020 Filing 
Have you claimed your ERC dollars yet?  It not, the first deadline is coming up in Q2 of 2023.  You have until then to amend your Q2 2020 taxes and claim your employee retention credit if you qualify.

We encourage you to sign up for a 10-minute consultation with an Adesso ERC tax expert to see if you have money to claim. So far Adesso has filed for nearly $5 million in ERC dollars in just the past few months for restaurant owners in Wisconsin alone and over $300 million across the country.

Check Today To See If You Qualify for ERC

Want to talk about this first, feel free to reach out to Dawn Faris – 608.444.9481 – dfaris@wirestaurant.org

On occasion the Department of Revenue's Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement Unit confiscates contraband alcohol beverages. The DOR is authorized to sell the confiscated product to the highest bidder. Many times, bottles sell well below wholesale price.

This sale consists of 925 bottles of Taxed Intoxicating Liquor.

Bids for the entire lot will be accepted from either a wholesale permittee or persons licensed to sell wine at retail (Class A or B Liquor License). Items within the lot may NOT be bid on separately.

Sealed bids must be received at 265 W Northland Ave., Appleton, WI not later October 17, 2022. Bid opening at 9:00 am on October 8th, 2022.
​
Successful bidder must pick up product by October 31, 2022. Product is located in Madison, WI.