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Work out the tip, split the bill, and handle tax and service charge properly. Unlike most tip calculators, this one shows you the tip on the pre-tax and post-tax amount side by side — and warns you when service is already included so you don't tip twice.
Tipping customs vary by country and venue — check local practice when travelling.
To calculate a tip, multiply the bill by the tip percentage: bill × 0.18 = an 18% tip. On an $85 bill that is $15.30, making the total $100.30, or $50.15 each between two people. In the US, tip on the pre-tax subtotal. If a service charge is already on the bill, that is the tip — no need to add more.
Why the tip base matters. On a $100 bill with 8.875% sales tax, an 18% tip is $18.00 on the pre-tax subtotal but $19.60 post-tax. You are tipping on the government's cut. The difference is small on one meal and meaningful over a year — and it is entirely your choice, which is why this calculator shows both.
The double-tipping trap. In the UK, Europe, the Gulf and much of Asia, restaurants add a service charge of 10–15% automatically. Adding a further 15–20% on top — as an American visitor might instinctively do — means paying nearly 30% on a meal where 12.5% was already generous. Enter the service charge and this calculator flags it.
Common situations across currencies, including bills with tax and with a service charge already added.
| # | Situation | Bill | Tip % | Tax | Service | Tip | Total | People | Each |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casual restaurant | $60.00 | 18% | — | — | $10.80 | $70.80 | 2 | $35.40 |
| 2 | Family dinner | $145.00 | 20% | 7.5% | — | $29.00 | $184.88 | 4 | $46.22 |
| 3 | Business lunch | $210.00 | 20% | 8.875% | — | $42.00 | $270.64 | 3 | $90.21 |
| 4 | Coffee shop | $12.50 | 15% | — | — | $1.88 | $14.38 | 1 | $14.38 |
| 5 | Bar tab | $85.00 | 20% | — | — | $17.00 | $102.00 | 4 | $25.50 |
| 6 | Fine dining | $340.00 | 22% | 8.875% | — | $74.80 | $444.98 | 2 | $222.49 |
| 7 | Food delivery | $42.00 | 15% | — | — | $6.30 | $48.30 | 1 | $48.30 |
| 8 | Pizza delivery | $28.00 | 18% | — | — | $5.04 | $33.04 | 1 | $33.04 |
| 9 | Taxi fare | $34.00 | 15% | — | — | $5.10 | $39.10 | 1 | $39.10 |
| 10 | Rideshare | $22.00 | 18% | — | — | $3.96 | $25.96 | 1 | $25.96 |
| 11 | Hair salon | $95.00 | 20% | — | — | $19.00 | $114.00 | 1 | $114.00 |
| 12 | Spa massage | $130.00 | 20% | — | — | $26.00 | $156.00 | 1 | $156.00 |
| 13 | Hotel room service | $58.00 | 18% | — | 18% | $10.44 | $78.88 | 1 | $78.88 |
| 14 | Group dinner (10) | $680.00 | 20% | 8% | — | $136.00 | $870.40 | 10 | $87.04 |
| 15 | Birthday dinner (6) | $395.00 | 20% | 7% | — | $79.00 | $501.65 | 6 | $83.61 |
| 16 | Wedding catering | $4,200.00 | 20% | 8% | — | $840.00 | $5,376.00 | 1 | $5,376.00 |
| 17 | Buffet | $76.00 | 10% | 6% | — | $7.60 | $88.16 | 2 | $44.08 |
| 18 | Airport bar | $48.00 | 18% | — | — | $8.64 | $56.64 | 1 | $56.64 |
| 19 | Brunch | $88.00 | 18% | 7% | — | $15.84 | $110.00 | 2 | $55.00 |
| 20 | Takeaway pickup | $35.00 | 10% | — | — | $3.50 | $38.50 | 1 | $38.50 |
| 21 | London pub meal | £64.00 | 10% | — | — | £6.40 | £70.40 | 2 | £35.20 |
| 22 | London restaurant | £120.00 | 0% | — | 12.5% | £0.00 | £135.00 | 4 | £33.75 |
| 23 | Paris bistro | €78.00 | 5% | — | — | €3.90 | €81.90 | 2 | €40.95 |
| 24 | Rome trattoria | €55.00 | 0% | — | — | €0.00 | €55.00 | 2 | €27.50 |
| 25 | Dubai restaurant | AED 320.00 | 0% | 5% | 10% | AED 0.00 | AED 368.00 | 4 | AED 92.00 |
| 26 | Dubai casual | AED 145.00 | 10% | 5% | — | AED 14.50 | AED 166.75 | 2 | AED 83.38 |
| 27 | Toronto dinner | C$130.00 | 18% | 13% | — | C$23.40 | C$170.30 | 2 | C$85.15 |
| 28 | Sydney cafe | A$64.00 | 0% | — | — | A$0.00 | A$64.00 | 2 | A$32.00 |
| 29 | Delhi restaurant | ₹2,400 | 10% | 5% | — | ₹240 | ₹2,760 | 4 | ₹690 |
| 30 | Tokyo restaurant | ¥6,800 | 0% | 10% | — | ¥0 | ¥7,480 | 2 | ¥3,740 |
Rows with a service charge show a 0% additional tip — because the service charge already is the tip.
Tipping is a local custom, not a universal rule. In some countries it is most of a server's income; in others it causes confusion or offence. Restaurant figures shown — other services vary.
| Country | Restaurant tip | Custom | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 15–20% | Expected. Servers are paid a tipped minimum wage. | Tip on the pre-tax amount; 18–20% is now standard. |
| Canada | 15–20% | Expected, similar to the US. | Card terminals often prompt 18/20/25%. |
| Mexico | 10–15% | Expected in restaurants. | Check for propina incluida already on the bill. |
| United Kingdom | 10–12.5% | Optional. Service often added. | If service charge is on the bill, no extra tip is needed. |
| Ireland | 10–15% | Appreciated, not obligatory. | Check for a service charge on larger tables. |
| France | 5–10% | Service compris is included by law. | Round up or leave small change for good service. |
| Germany | 5–10% | Round up when paying. | Say the total you want to pay as you hand over the money. |
| Italy | 0–10% | Coperto cover charge is common. | Coperto is not a tip; small extra is optional. |
| Spain | 5–10% | Not expected. | Leaving coins is normal; a full percentage tip is not. |
| Portugal | 5–10% | Appreciated, not expected. | Round up the bill in casual places. |
| Netherlands | 5–10% | Service included. | Round up or add a few euros for good service. |
| Belgium | 5–10% | Service included by law. | Rounding up is the norm. |
| Switzerland | 5–10% | Service included. | Rounding up is customary and enough. |
| Austria | 5–10% | Round up as you pay. | State the total including tip when paying. |
| Greece | 5–10% | Appreciated. | Leave cash on the table rather than on the card. |
| Denmark | 0–10% | Service included. | Tipping is genuinely optional. |
| Sweden | 5–10% | Service included. | Rounding up is common in restaurants. |
| Norway | 5–10% | Service included. | Rounding up for good service. |
| Finland | 0–10% | Not expected. | Service is included in menu prices. |
| Poland | 10% | Increasingly expected in cities. | Say the total; leaving change on the table works too. |
| Czechia | 10% | Expected in restaurants. | Round up and state the total when paying. |
| Turkey | 5–10% | Expected in restaurants. | Cash is preferred and goes to staff directly. |
| Russia | 10% | Appreciated. | Cash directly to the server is preferred. |
| United Arab Emirates | 10–15% | 10% service charge is often added. | Service charge may not reach staff — a cash tip does. |
| Saudi Arabia | 10–15% | Increasingly common. | Service charge is often added in hotels. |
| Qatar | 10% | Service charge usually added. | Extra cash tip optional for good service. |
| Egypt | 10–15% | Baksheesh is widely expected. | Small cash tips for many services. |
| Morocco | 10% | Expected in tourist areas. | Small cash tips are customary. |
| South Africa | 10–15% | Expected. | Car guards are typically tipped a few rand. |
| Kenya | 5–10% | Appreciated in tourist areas. | Service charge sometimes added. |
| India | 5–10% | Common in restaurants. | Check for a service charge before adding more. |
| Pakistan | 5–10% | Appreciated in restaurants. | Cash tips are the norm. |
| China | 0% | Not customary. | Tipping can cause confusion outside tourist hotels. |
| Japan | 0% | Not practised; can offend. | Excellent service is standard and unpaid extra. |
| South Korea | 0% | Not customary. | Service charge included in upscale venues. |
| Singapore | 0–10% | Service charge usually added. | 10% service charge is standard on bills. |
| Thailand | 5–10% | Appreciated, not required. | Round up or leave small change. |
| Vietnam | 5–10% | Increasingly common. | Cash tips directly to staff. |
| Indonesia | 5–10% | Service charge often added. | Check the bill before adding extra. |
| Australia | 0–10% | Not expected — staff earn a full wage. | Round up or 10% for exceptional service. |
| New Zealand | 0–10% | Not expected. | Tipping is genuinely optional. |
| Brazil | 10% | 10% service charge usually added. | The added 10% is customary and usually enough. |
| Argentina | 10% | Expected in restaurants. | Cash is strongly preferred. |
| Chile | 10% | 10% is usually suggested on the bill. | You can decline, but it's customary to pay. |
US and Canadian norms. Percentages apply to the pre-tax amount; flat figures are per service unless stated.
| Service | Typical tip | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant server | 18–20% | 15% is now considered low; 20% for good service |
| Bartender | 15–20% | Or $1–2 per drink on a simple order |
| Buffet / counter service | 10% | Less work per table; 10% is fair |
| Coffee shop | $1 or 10% | Entirely optional for a simple order |
| Food delivery | 15–20% | Minimum $3–5; more in bad weather or long distance |
| Taxi / rideshare | 15–20% | Extra for help with luggage |
| Hairdresser / barber | 15–20% | Tip the person who did the work, separately if several did |
| Massage / spa | 15–20% | Check whether a service charge is already applied |
| Nail salon | 15–20% | Cash is usually preferred |
| Hotel housekeeping | $3–5 / night | Leave daily rather than at the end — staff rotate |
| Hotel porter / bellhop | $2–5 / bag | More for heavy or numerous bags |
| Hotel concierge | $5–20 | Only for genuine effort, such as securing a reservation |
| Valet parking | $2–5 | On retrieval rather than on drop-off |
| Tour guide | 10–20% | Or $5–10 per person for a half-day group tour |
| Movers | $20–50 each | Depends on hours, stairs and care taken |
| Furniture / appliance delivery | $5–20 each | Not expected, but appreciated for difficult deliveries |
| Tradespeople | Not expected | Plumbers, electricians and contractors are not tipped |
| Restaurant takeaway pickup | 0–10% | Optional; more if the order was large or customised |
Calculated on whichever base you selected. In the US this normally goes directly to the server or into a shared tip pool.
Tip plus any service charge, as a share of the subtotal. This is the honest number — a 12.5% service charge plus a 10% tip is 22.5%.
Total divided by the number of people. For an uneven split where people ordered very differently, use the itemised splitter below.
Both figures side by side. Neither is wrong — US convention is pre-tax, but many people simply tip on the total.
Look for "service charge", "gratuity", "coperto" or "servizio". Large tables are often charged 18–20% automatically.
Move the decimal one place left for 10%, then double it for 20% or add half again for 15%. No phone needed.
With a voucher, discount or comped dish, tip on what the bill would have been. The server did the same work.
If one person had three courses and another had soup, an even split isn't fair. Use the itemised splitter below.
Adding 20% on a bill that already includes a 12.5% service charge. Common for US travellers in Europe and the Gulf.
Terminals often suggest 20/25/30% calculated on the post-tax total. That's a design choice, not a standard.
If you used a 2-for-1 voucher, the server still served two meals.
Slow food is usually a kitchen problem. Speak to a manager rather than reducing the tip.
When people ordered very different amounts, an even split isn't fair. Enter what each person spent and this shares the tax and tip in proportion to what they ordered — using the tip %, tax and service charge set in the calculator above.
Tip in dollars for common bill sizes, so you can sanity-check a figure without a calculator.
| Bill | 10% | 15% | 18% | 20% | 22% | 25% |
|---|
A tip, or gratuity, is money given to a service worker beyond the stated price of what you bought. In most of the world it is a small, voluntary gesture of thanks. In the United States it is something quite different: a substantial share of a server's actual income, expected as a matter of course, and factored into how much the restaurant pays them in the first place.
That difference explains almost every confusion about tipping. The same act means "thank you" in one country and "here is most of your wage" in another, and travellers who apply their home rules abroad end up either causing offence or badly underpaying someone.
Under federal law the United States permits a tipped minimum cash wage well below the standard minimum wage, on the assumption that tips will make up the difference. Employers must top up the shortfall if tips fall short, but in practice the system means a server's take-home pay swings with how generous their tables happen to be that night. Some states have abolished the tipped wage; many have not.
This is why tipping in the US is not really optional in the way it is elsewhere, and why the expected percentage has climbed over time. It also explains a genuine tension: many people dislike the system while still tipping well, because declining to tip punishes the worker rather than the policy.
The US restaurant standard has moved. For decades 15% was normal, then 15–20% became the range, and today 18–20% is what most servers expect for competent service, with 20–25% for genuinely good service in full-service restaurants. Fifteen percent now reads as mild dissatisfaction rather than a neutral default.
Counter service, buffets and takeaway sit lower — around 10% or a flat dollar or two, and often nothing at all for a simple coffee. The rule of thumb is that the percentage tracks how much service you actually received: a server who managed your table for two hours is a different proposition from someone who handed you a cup.
The conventional answer is that you tip on the pre-tax subtotal, because sales tax is money going to the government rather than anything the restaurant or server did. Etiquette guidance and most established sources back this.
In practice plenty of people simply tip on the total, partly out of habit and partly because card terminals calculate it that way. The difference is modest — on a $100 bill with around 9% sales tax, an 18% tip is $18.00 pre-tax and $19.60 post-tax — but it is a real choice, and worth making deliberately rather than by default. This calculator shows both figures at once so you can see exactly what the difference is on your bill.
A service charge is a percentage the restaurant adds to your bill automatically. It appears as "service charge", "gratuity", "servizio" or similar, and it is extremely common in the UK, continental Europe, the Gulf states and much of Asia. It is also applied in the US to large tables, typically 18–20% for parties of six or more.
The critical point is that a service charge is the tip. If your bill already includes 12.5% service, adding another 15–20% on top means paying nearly 30%. That is a common and expensive mistake for American visitors abroad, and it is exactly why this calculator has a service charge field and flags it in the results.
One nuance worth knowing: a service charge is legally the restaurant's money in many jurisdictions, and does not always reach staff in full. In places where that is a known problem — parts of the Gulf and Southeast Asia among them — a small cash tip handed directly to your server is more likely to reach them than the percentage on the bill.
Your tip often does not go entirely to the person who served you. Many restaurants operate tip pooling or tip-outs, where servers share a percentage with bussers, runners, bartenders and hosts. This is normal and generally fair, since those people contributed to your meal.
Rules vary on who may participate — in the US, managers and owners generally may not share in a tip pool. If you want to make sure a specific person receives something directly, cash handed to them is the most reliable route.
An even split is simplest and works fine when everyone ordered roughly the same. It stops being fair when one person had three courses and a bottle of wine while another had soup and tap water.
The fair method is proportional: each person pays for their own items, and tax and tip are divided in proportion to what each ordered. Someone whose food cost 40% of the bill pays 40% of the tip. The itemised splitter on this page does this automatically. The alternative — everyone tipping the same flat percentage of their own items — produces the same result and is easier to explain at the table.
The foundation is 10%: move the decimal point one place to the left. On $86.40 that is $8.64. From there, 20% is double it ($17.28), and 15% is the 10% plus half again ($12.96). For 18%, take the 20% and subtract a tenth of it — $17.28 minus $1.73 is $15.55.
A quicker approximation for 20%: divide by five. And a useful sanity check for 15% in the US: it is roughly double the sales tax in many states, which is why some people simply double the tax line on the receipt.
Payment terminals have changed tipping behaviour significantly, and not by accident. Suggested amounts are frequently set at 20%, 25% and 30%, sometimes calculated on the post-tax total, and displayed on a screen while a member of staff waits. The result is upward pressure that has little to do with custom and a lot to do with interface design.
Those figures are suggestions, not requirements. The custom option is always there, and using it is entirely normal. Being asked for a tip on a counter transaction where no table service occurred — sometimes called tip creep or tipflation — is a recent development, and declining is not rude.
Cash tips reach staff faster, are less likely to be reduced by processing fees, and in some countries are far more likely to reach the individual at all. Card tips are more convenient, create a record, and in the US are still owed to the employee, though they may arrive with the next pay run.
If you are travelling somewhere with a known service charge problem, cash is the safer choice. Domestically, either works — the practical difference is mostly timing.
The single most useful habit is to check the bill before adding anything, because a service charge is the norm across large parts of the world. Beyond that, the pattern roughly divides into three groups. Countries where tipping is expected and substantial: the US, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, South Africa. Countries where it is modest and optional: most of Europe, where 5–10% or simply rounding up is normal because staff earn a full wage. And countries where it is not practised at all: Japan, South Korea and China, where offering money can create genuine awkwardness.
The 44-country table on this page covers the specifics. When you cannot check, watching what local diners do is more reliable than any guide.
Hospitality extends well beyond dining. Hotel housekeeping is typically $3–5 per night, left daily rather than at the end, since staff rotate. Porters get $2–5 per bag. Taxi and rideshare drivers are tipped 15–20% in the US, with extra for luggage help. Hairdressers, barbers and spa staff are tipped 15–20%, and cash is often preferred.
Trades are the clear exception: plumbers, electricians and contractors are not tipped in most of the English-speaking world, though a drink or a small cash thank-you for exceptional work on a difficult job is never unwelcome.
Genuinely poor service — inattention, rudeness, a server who disappeared — is a reasonable basis for tipping less, and the honest approach is to speak to a manager as well, because a reduced tip on its own communicates nothing.
What is not a fair basis: slow food, which is a kitchen issue; a mistake the server fixed promptly and graciously; or being busy on a short-staffed night. And in the US, reducing a tip to zero effectively means the person worked your table for free, which is a serious step rather than a mild signal.
Hand a cash tip directly to the person where you can, or leave it clearly on the table. In a hotel room, make it obvious that money is intended as a tip — an envelope or a note prevents housekeeping wondering whether you simply forgot it. When tipping a tour guide in a group, an envelope handed over at the end is standard.
In Japan, where tipping is not practised, a small gift from your home country is a better gesture than money; if you insist on cash for a private guide, an envelope presented with both hands is the respectful form.