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Personal Appearance and Wellness
Eyebrow and Eyelash Technicians
TTOC 606 · Box 14b expected code 606
Lash and brow technicians — lash extensions, brow shaping, microblading, lash lifts, brow tints — sit in TTOC 606. The trade has grown rapidly through the 2020s; Treasury's final regulation explicitly listed it as a separate code in the 600s rather than folding it into TTOC 601 (Skincare Specialists).[1][2][3]
Personalized calculation
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The decoder below is pre-filled to Eyebrow and Eyelash Technicians (TTOC 606). Enter your tax year, filing status, wages, and MAGI to see the cap and phase-out math run against your numbers. Compute is 100% client-side — nothing about your wages or MAGI leaves this page.
TTOC tip-deduction decoder
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Statute-cited expansion
Statute and trade context.
Enabling statute: P.L. 119-21 §70201 (qualified tips) [1], codified at 26 USC §224[2].
TTOC list source: 26 CFR §1.224-1 (TD 10044, 91 FR 19026, April 13, 2026); the list places this trade in the 600s (Personal Appearance and Wellness) category at code 606[3].
Transition relief: IRS Notice 2025-69 §3 (qualified-tips reporting transition relief for tax year 2025) and §6 (SSTB transition relief while §1.224-1(g) is reserved) [4][5].
W-2 mechanics: Box 14b carries the TTOC under §6051(a)(18); Box 12 code TP carries the cash-tip dollar figure[6][7].
Standalone code, identical mechanics
TTOC 606 is the structural recognition that lash-and-brow work is its own trade with its own tipping conventions. The §224 mechanics are identical to TTOC 601 (Skincare Specialists) and TTOC 605 (Manicurists and Pedicurists): Box 14b TTOC 606 on the tax year 2026 W-2, Box 12 code TP for the cash-tip figure, Schedule 1-A on the return, $25,000 cap, MAGI phase-out.
Most lash studios operate as booth-rental shops where the tech pays a station fee and operates as a Schedule C sole proprietor. The §224 deduction is available either way; resolve the W-2 vs Schedule C path first.
Box 14b verification tips for lash and brow technicians
Lash-and-brow technicians sit in the youngest TTOC code in the 600s wellness category (TTOC 606), and payroll-template support for the code is uneven. Older payroll providers built their 2026 W-2 templates from SOC-code mappings that did not separately enumerate lash-and-brow work; those templates may default Box 14b to 601 (Skincare Specialists) or to 000 (non-tipped). When a tax year 2026 W-2 arrives, the first sanity check is whether Box 14b carries 606 — if it shows 601 or 000, the remedy is a Form W-2c request citing TD 10044 listing TTOC 606 as a separate code from TTOC 601.
The second sanity check is the studio-vs-booth-rental classification. The lash industry runs heavily on booth-rental at multi-tech studios (The Lash Lounge, Amazing Lash Studio, Deka Lash, and many independents). Booth-rental techs are Schedule C sole proprietors and compute the §224 deduction from their own books — appointment ledger plus credit-card processor tip-line plus cash-tip log. W-2 lash techs are rarer but exist at corporate-owned studio chains and at the lash-bar concessions inside larger spas; for those workers, Box 14b TTOC 606 and Box 12 code TP are the canonical mechanics.
The third sanity check is the lash-fill / lash-extension upcharge question. A lash studio that bundles a mandatory gratuity into a lash-fill service-package price is creating wages, not qualified tips — the customer was not free to set the amount. A lash studio that displays a tip-prompt on the credit-card terminal at checkout produces qualified tips because the customer can override or skip. The Box 12 code TP figure should reflect only the customer-elected tip income, not bundled service-package add-ons.
If the studio cannot or will not issue a W-2c within a reasonable period, the IRS-blessed escalation is Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2). Reconstruct reported tip wages from paystubs, the studio's tip-out slips, and the credit-card processor's tip-line export, attach Form 4852 to the return, and explain the efforts made to obtain a corrected W-2.
Tipping conventions for this trade
Tipping conventions for this trade vary by venue, region, and service tier.
Common payroll mistakes
Box 14b 000 because the trade is new
Older payroll systems may not yet carry TTOC 606. Request a Form W-2c citing TD 10044 listing TTOC 606.
Booth-rental misclassified as W-2
Lash studios often operate booth-rental; resolve classification first, then apply §224.
Actionable artifact
Next steps for eyebrow and eyelash technicians.
If you filed your 2025 return without the §224 deduction, the amend window under §6511(a) generally runs through April 15, 2029. Form 1040-X with Schedule 1-A is the path.[1]
Amend walkthrough →For tax year 2026 onward, your W-2 should show TTOC 606 in Box 14b. If it shows 000 or is blank, the validator helps you decide whether to request a Form W-2c.[1]
Box 14b validator →