We turn your POS and payroll tip data into a draft Form 8846 credit pack, worth an estimated $400+ per tipped employee each year, and you keep your tax professional.
$400+
estimated annual credit per tipped employee
First $200
of savings free each year
16%
of savings above that, capped at $5,000/yr
Your CPA
reviews and files
Direct and pooled tips at the statutory $5.15 baseline, net of our fee. It's the same math our credit packs use, and your real figure gets validated against your records.
Assumes staff keep their own tips. Switch to Advanced for pooled or tip-out teams.
First $200 of savings free every year, then 16%, capped at $5,000/yr.
Estimate, not a quote or guarantee. Based on the assumptions you entered. Your actual §45B credit depends on cash wages, hours, eligible tips, tip pools, service charges, your payroll and POS records, and a licensed tax professional's review. The amounts above are the gross credit, before the §45B(c) reduction in the wage deduction the credit relates to and before the §38(c) yearly limit on how much of the credit can be used (any excess carries forward). What you keep therefore depends on your own tax rate, which your tax professional determines. We validate the number against your records before any filing. We're not a law, accounting, or tax-preparation firm. This isn't tax, legal, or accounting advice, and we don't file it.
The §45B credit goes on your annual income-tax return. When POS, payroll, and CPA data never meet in a single Form 8846 workpaper, it goes unclaimed.
| System | Knows | Doesn't own |
|---|---|---|
| POS | Sales, card tips, and service charges | Payroll-tax eligibility and annual tax filing |
| Payroll | Wages, reported tips, FICA paid | POS reconciliation and the income-tax return claim |
| CPA | Your income-tax return | Rebuilding detailed tip and payroll source data |
| Blue Crab Guild | Reconciled evidence and a CPA-ready Form 8846 package | Nothing |
We pull tip and payroll data straight from your systems. Some connections are live on day one, and we add the rest as members ask. Tell us what you use, and that decides what we connect to next.
Live the moment you join, with nothing to wait on.
Square
A read-only OAuth connector. Approve it once, and the access is yours to revoke. We never hold your password. Daily sales and per-employee tips sync automatically.
CSV / XLSX export
Any tips-by-employee report, payroll earnings register, timekeeping hours export, or tip-pool report. Upload the file and we normalize the format for you.
We add these as members ask. Say the word and we'll confirm support.
POS
Clover · Toast
Toast connects through its partner program; the CSV export covers Toast from day one.
Payroll
Running something else? Name it. If enough members run it, we build it.
We're targeting a November 1, 2026 launch, once there's enough demand. Tell us what you run and describe anything bespoke, and we'll confirm what's possible.
No subscription and no setup fee. The first $200 of §45B savings is free every year, then 16%, capped at $5,000/yr per restaurant.
Disclaimer
Blue Crab Guild is not a law firm, an accounting firm, or a tax-preparation firm unless we state otherwise. This product provides informational tools and estimates based on data you supply or connect. Nothing here is tax, legal, accounting, payroll, or audit advice. Credit and savings figures are estimated workpapers based on imported and customer-confirmed data, and they are subject to your review and to your independent tax professional's review. Blue Crab Guild does not file them with the IRS, and we do not guarantee eligibility, a credit amount, tax savings, or a refund. Do not use any document for filing until your qualified tax professional has reviewed and approved it. Nothing is filed without your authorization. The on-page estimator is an illustration built from assumptions you enter; it is not a validation, a quote, or a guarantee of any credit amount. Your actual §45B credit is determined from your own records, applies only to eligible tips above the applicable minimum-wage threshold, and requires review and filing by your authorized tax professional. The estimator shows the gross credit and does not model its tax effect: claiming the credit reduces the wage deduction it relates to, so the amount you keep depends on your own marginal tax rate, and the §38(c) limit caps how much credit can be used in a year (any excess carries back one year and forward up to twenty). Blue Crab Guild does not file Form 3800; your CPA, EA, or attorney determines the usable amount.