Tip Calculator

Features

• Adjustable tip from 0% to 40%
• Split between any number of people
• Tip on pre-tax or post-tax amount
• Round the total or each share up
• Quick comparison at common tip percentages

How to use it

1. Enter the bill total.
2. Slide to your tip percentage.
3. Set how many people are splitting it.
4. Read what each person owes.

Tipping conventions vary enormously

In the United States, tipping is effectively part of the wage. Federal law allows a tipped minimum wage well below the standard one on the assumption that tips make up the difference, so 18% to 20% at a sit-down restaurant is the working norm rather than a bonus for exceptional service. Leaving nothing has a direct effect on the server's income.

Most of Europe works differently. Service is generally included by law and staff are paid a full wage, so rounding up or leaving 5% to 10% is generous rather than expected. In Japan and South Korea, tipping is not customary at all and can be actively unwelcome, leaving money on the table may result in a server chasing you down the street to return it.

Two practical details. Whether to tip on the pre-tax or post-tax total is genuinely disputed; tipping pre-tax is defensible since tax is not part of the service, and the difference on a typical bill is small. More significant is checking for an automatic service charge, common for larger groups and increasingly on individual bills, if one has already been added, an additional tip is entirely optional and you are not being rude to skip it.