[singron]

Assuming you didn't write too many zeroes on your W-4, you shouldn't have 100% withholding.

AFAICT, this $0 paycheck thing comes from a single reddit post described in this article: https://www.newsweek.com/waitress-who-comes-home-0-paycheck-...

TL;DR: the restaurant calculates a much higher number for cash tip income than actually received and withholds the meager wage income to cover the taxes.

The server kept the actual cash tips, which should be most of their income, although they might have an unexpected tax bill. The restaurant can't report the wrong amount for tips and has to report what the employee reports to them, so this is likely illegal.

It's not uncommon to have a low paycheck since taxes for tip and wage income are withheld only from wages. If you make $20/hour total and your tax rate is 20%, wages will generally cover your taxes if they are at least 20% of your income or $4/hour.

Usually this works the other way, where servers under-report cash tips and get a little tax-free income.