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.
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![]() 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 training is an investment in employees:
The Suite of ServSafe programs include:
We encourage you to consider these training opportunities for yourself and your staff. For more information about these programs go to: wirestaurant.org/servsafe 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 1,784 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 than February 27, 2023. Bid opening at 9:00 am on February 28th, 2023. Successful bidder must pick up product by March 17, 2023. Product is located in Madison, WI. The Wisconsin Restaurant Association (WRA) agrees a discussion is needed regarding the current federal minimum wage. It has been over a decade since it was increased, and those discussions are overdue. The WRA is ready to have a conversation about a balanced way to address wage levels—including preserving the tip credit—in the hospitality industry and the unique impact any change would have on the its employees and restaurant operators.
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. ![]() That’s a wrap! The all-new Restaurant Insights Summit was held last week in Green Bay at the Resch Expo, and it was a great success. A powerful 24 hours was filled with outstanding programming presented by the best of the best in our industry. Attendees, presenters, and exhibitors spent the time in Green Bay—together—collaborating, socializing, and partnering to continue moving our industry forward in 2023. WRA is the proud host of this well-received, unique event that we crafted into an intimate, forward focused conference. 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 1,430 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 than November 22, 2022. Bid opening at 9:00 am on November 28th, 2022. Successful bidder must pick up product by December 16, 2022. Product is located in Madison, WI. ![]() 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.
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. |
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