Paola Hinton is a taxpayer and small business owner of Five Senses Spa, Salon & Barbershop in Peoria, Illinois. Her business and employees are benefiting from the Working Families Tax Cut. She specifically cited the No Tax on Tips provision and the FICA 45B tips provision.

Speaking at Americans for Tax Reform’s April 14 tax press conference, Hinton said:

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I can’t wait for tax day on April 15th. It’s a little different this year. It’s great because it’s a step in the right direction for policy for small businesses and American workers. And it’s a great example to be set for the next generation that is watching us.

Speaking of the next generation, when my daughters were young and they were at Ridgeview Elementary School in Peoria, Illinois, I would volunteer for Junior Achievement, which is a program where community members would teach students on how money works in the real world. One of my favorite lessons is when each student is representing someone different in the community. We’d have firefighters, teachers, bankers and small business owners. Everyone is earning money.

But I added a little twist.

I asked the class to please give me the kindest boy and girl in the classroom. They elected. It was very sweet and I went ahead and I slapped on a sticker that said ‘tax collector’ on both of them.

The room went crazy because I said, please go to your classmates and go collect $15 from each of your friends. All of a sudden, the two same kids that were the loved kids became not so loved anymore. So at this point in time when the room is getting very crazy, I am saying to them, ‘well, let me explain as to the why behind it. Because we need to pay our firefighters. We need to pay for the teachers.’ And so some people understood, some people were trying to negotiate and one little boy said he hated homework, so there’s no need for schools. But taxes are necessary and we rely on them. But they also have to be fair.

The FICA 45B provision [enacted in the Working Families Tax Cut] is a small business provision that helps a lot of salon owners, such as myself. We have very tight margins in the salon beauty industry, and we’ve been carrying a tax burden that has been completely unfair, where it [FICA 45B provision] is something that our restaurant industry has had over the years since 1993.

The No Taxes on Tips is the second provision. Which is for all the hardworking Americans, which is some of our employees as well, that are doing everything that they can while all these taxes are coming at them and trying to provide a living for their family. So on July 4th 2025, these two provisions came back, came together beautifully. We got the extension of the 45B FICA tip tax to the beauty industry, and then we also had the no taxes on tips provision.

I have been the proud founder and owner of Five Senses Spa, Salon & Barbershop in Peoria, Illinois. In the last 20 years, we have paid out over $2.3 million in just tips alone of this amount. The FICA taxes that my business has to pay is over $176,000. That’s in 20 years. Meanwhile, since 1993, my restaurant friends have been able to get this amount back where we have not. So the impact is very, very important. And now, until now we have, my representative from Illinois Congressman Darren LaHood, to thank, and Susan DelBene, Congresswoman from the State of Washington who brought this bipartisan bill together.

On the other hand, we also have the employees. And in the past week I’ve talked to many of my salon business owners who are very excited for this day too. Von Han in California shared that she received about $38,000, in tax credits across two locations. Brandon from Texas is using the savings to fund 401k. Brian from Georgia is looking to maintain the health insurance for their employees. And best of all, Jenny had told me from Tennessee that one of her stylists called her ecstatic that this was a substantial tax amount that then she is now going to pay down for her car loan and a family vacation. So what we are seeing here is also a changed behavior. We have owners who are now being more compliant and we also have employees who are willing to report their tips. This is a win for everyone.

There’s still opportunity because there’s a significant education gap where there are salon owners and people that do not know how this works and how to receive this credit. But now is the work that we need to be doing is to make sure that owners, employers, and tax professionals understand how to access it. Because when policy is done right and implemented well, it doesn’t just change tax returns, it changes lives. And we need to change those junior achievement materials for the next generation. Thank you very much.“

Video of the April 14 event can be accessed here and below: