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What do a yoga instructor, a parking garage attendant, and an influencer have in common? They are all now exempt from paying income tax on their tips under President Donald Trumps Big Beautiful Bill. As part of Trumps no tax on tips policy, streamers, online video creators, social media influencers, and podcasters are among the workers no longer required to hand over a portion of their tip income, according to a Treasury Department list released this week. The policyone of Trumps key 2024 campaign promiseswas written into the tax code when Congress passed the bill in July. At first, the conversation focused on restaurant servers. But the Treasury has since clarified that digital content creators also qualify, defined as people who produce and publish on digital platforms original entertainment or personality-driven content, such as live streams, short-form videos, or podcasts. In total, 68 occupations are eligible, including bartenders, electricians, tutors, makeup artists, taxi drivers, and golf caddies. For most influencers, tips are a relatively small slice of income compared to brand deals. Still, tipping is common on Twitch, where viewers buy bits, or on OnlyFans, where creators use tip menus for custom content. Under the no tax on tips policyset to run from 2025 until 2028creators can claim a deduction covering up to $25,000 of qualifying tip income. The deduction phases out for those earning more than $150,000, meaning top Twitch or TikTok stars who make millions annually wont see much benefit. But the large middle class of creators likely will. The president had promised to reward creators after they helped boost his campaign and pave the way for his return to the Oval Office. Now, hes making good on that pledge.
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E-Commerce
South Korea on Friday expressed “concern and regret” over a major U.S. immigration raid at a sprawling Georgia site where South Korean auto company Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles.South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong described the number of detained South Koreans as “large” though he did not provide an exact figure.His ministry would not confirm or deny South Korean media reports saying that about 300 South Koreans were detained in Georgia on Thursday. The Atlanta office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which assisted immigration authorities at the site, posed on the social media site X that about 450 people total were apprehended.Hyundai’s South Korean office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.Thursday’s raid targeted one of Georgia’s largest and most high-profile manufacturing sites, touted by the governor and other officials as the largest economic development project in the state’s history. Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s biggest automaker, began manufacturing EVs a year ago at the $7.6 billion plant, which employs about 1,200 people, and has partnered with LG Energy Solution to build an adjacent battery plant, slated to open next year.ICE spokesman Lindsay Williams confirmed that federal authorities conducted an enforcement operation at the 3,000-acre (1,214-hectare) site west of Savannah, Georgia. He said agents were focused on the construction site for the battery plant.In a televised statement, Lee said the ministry is taking active measures to address the case, dispatching diplomats from its embassy in Washington and consulate in Atlanta to the site, and planning to form an on-site response team centered on the local mission.“The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of U.S. law enforcement,” Lee said.The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that agents executed a search warrant “as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices and other serious federal crimes.”It did not say whether anyone was detained or arrested.President Donald Trump’s administration has undertaken sweeping ICE operations as part of a mass deportation agenda. Immigration officers have raided farms, construction sites, restaurants and auto repair shops.The Pew Research Center, citing preliminary Census Bureau data, says the U.S. labor force lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January through July. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents.Hyundai and LG’s battery joint venture, HL-GA Battery Company, said in a statement that it’s “cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities” and paused construction of the battery site to assist their work.Operations at Hyundai’s EV manufacturing plant weren’t interrupted, said plant spokesperson Bianca Johnson. Kim Tong-Hyung and Russ Bynum, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Exactly 20 years ago, America met Michael Scott and a certain Dwight Schrute. When The Office launched in 2005, it quickly became a cultural touchstone, and its main titlecomplete with that dreadfully catchy tunewas so popular it was soon parodied by The Simpsons. Now, the pseudo-film crew that introduced us to our favorite Dunder Mifflin characters is back for another mockumentary. But instead of the dying paper supply industry, they have set their sights on a struggling daily newspaper in Toledo, Ohio. The Paper, which premiered on Peacock yesterday and has already been renewed for Season 2, follows the ambitious publisher Ned Sampsons as he tries to revive the fictional Toledo Truth Teller along with a team of largely incompetent reporters who have never written a real article in their lives. (Not unless you count You wont believe how much Ben Affleck tipped his limo driver, which Truth Teller reporter like Esmeralda Grand is most proud of.) So will Ned succeed in reviving the Truth Teller? The shows main title might have some clues. [Photo: Aaron Epstein/Peacock] Misusing newspapers Showrunners Greg Daniels and Michael Koman created The Papers main title in collaboration with co-executive producer and editor David Rogers. In just 30 seconds, it shows a flurry of people usingor as Rogers put it to me in an email, misusingnewspapers. The shows shooting schedule was tight, so instead of including actual show footage, like in The Office main title, the team scoured stock libraries for shots of people using newspapers in unique and entertaining ways. A worker is plastering newspapers on a window, a group of men play cards on a table lined with newspapers, a puppy Fox Terrier gets potty-trained on a newspaper. We also see a man wearing a hat made of a newspaper, and hands wrapping bread in it, too. Greg and Michael had a concept of showing people using newspapers in various ways, except of course, for actually reading them, Rogers says. The underlying message, then, seems to be that newspapersonce beacons of informationhave become so superfluous that their only value now lies in prosaic household uses. Like with The Office, which includes footage of Scranton, Pennsylvania, The Papers main title also gives us glimpse of Toledo, including its famous Love Wall mural. We wanted to highlight this new city that the show resides in, and it gave the sequence energy and a nice contrast with some of the vintage still frames, says Rogers, who also edited the original title sequence for The Office. [Photo: Aaron Epstein/Peacock] Bad omen or red herring? The Paper is a spinoff of The Office, so naturally, the team wanted to echo The Offices main title without duplicating it. This extended to the theme song, for which the team hired Canadian musician and composer Nick Thorburn (most famously known for composing the soundtrack for the hit podcast Serial). Chances are, when you think of The Office, you are already humming its catchy tune. Here, too, Thornburn has composed a song that’s already etched itself into my brain. But its definitely its own song, Rogers notes. Still, discerning listeners who stay on until the very end will notice that the last few piano notes are the exact same as those in The Office theme song. Another reason not to hit that skip button? The very last image of the title sequence portrays one of the reporters scraping a poop-soiled newspaper from the bottom of a bird cage and into a recycling bin that reads Paper. Then, just like with The Office, where the team found a real sign that said Office and popped a preposition before it, the paper recycling bin gets its own preposition in front of it, leading to the shows title. Is the recycling bin scene a harbinger for what will happen to the Toledo Truth Teller? Or is it just the beginning of an upward journey? Seems like this title sequence just might be burying the lede.
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E-Commerce
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