It is not a gift, $20.00 cash was paid for it.
Not to the IRS. It’s a gift. Gift taxes are the responsibility of the giver, so the cafe worker doesn’t need to worry. The annual exclusion is 13k per person or so, if the coach is married, there is no tax issue. Then there’s the lifetime gift exclusion, so you really don’t have gift tax issues until the lifetime exclusion is used up, but he may need to file a gift tax return.
It’s all tied in with the death tax too. It’s another reason to get rid of the income and death tax altogether.