he said something like "may" or "might". can't recall which but i listened to the re-run on cspan after i read leslie's post. i can't imagine she's getting slammed since she'd be declaring single head of household.
and marta, i'm sure some waitresses earn $25k. when i was a waitress years ago, i'd pull home 100 clams a day. i could also carry two trays and turn over a lot of tables in a 10 hr. shift. the last time i did my sister's income tax was three years ago. she'd been doing it for years without knowing about EITC. she was making something like $18k *declared* which means she made quite a bit more in tips. as a waitress you have to declare *i think* 10% of what you sell in addition to the waitress minimum wage (not sure what that is anymore?). if, at the end of the day, you've sold $500 in meals and beverages (ie. beer, wine, liquor), then you declare that you made $50. if you work in a decent establishment you may well have actually made $75-$100 -- although in the better establishments you're shelling out 10-20% of that to the cooks, the busboys, the hostesses and the dishwashers (who usually make 1.5,2,3,4 times what you make)
none of this is to suggest that you shouldn't tip your server AT LEAST 15% !!! most of them are paying for their own uniforms--the standard black bottoms and white tops--and shoes and cleaning them on their own. i'd say you're basically talking a shirt a week and a new pair of bottoms every month or so. they typically get nothing in the way of benefits and rarely get breaks unless they work for some sort of chain that has a mandatory break policy.
kelley