“Hairdresser” and “barber”, like “waitress”, are professions that traditionally get tipped in the US. As such, if they DON’T declare tips on their tax forms the IRS will get very very suspicious. Just because someone receives tips in cash doesn’t mean they fail to report it.
Additionally, those who are independent operators - that is, they either own their own salon, or “rent a chair” and are essentially independent contractors - may in fact want to declare their true and full incomes as that eventually affects one’s social security payments and may make such things as purchasing a car or a home when one does not have a traditional employer a little easier.
So, while it wouldn’t surprise me if there are some out there who never declare their income from tips I would be shocked if no one reported it.
At least I would say that they don’t declare all of their income via tipping. I presume at least a percentage of that would be maintained undeclared. Yes, if you say you received ZERO tips, that’s probably going to get you audited.
And I may have overstated my case when I threw out the $45/hr bit. The point I was responding to was that, although $12-15 for a 20 minute haircut seems measly, if haircutting was (hypothetically) completely unregulated and rampant on every street corner, there’s potential for that price to go down by economy of scale; if you can turn around three customers each and every hour, you could ostensibly charge 6 or 7 dollars versus twelve. I’m not saying that barbers are rich guys making $45/hr with no expenses, simply that they could be undercut (no pun intended).
I am really surprised at the minimum number of hours of training (and I have a sister in the profession). I became both a licensed pilot and certified police officer and the combined training hours was less than half the amount cited for Arkansas. I’m not doubting the numbers, just surprised.