Tip Calculator

Tipping, splitting and the awkward maths at the end of a meal

Tipping is part arithmetic and part local custom. The arithmetic is easy to automate; the custom is what trips up travellers. This page covers both.

How the calculation works

The tip is the bill multiplied by the tip percentage divided by 100. The total is the bill plus the tip. The per-person amount is that total divided by the number of people sharing it. This calculator runs all three as you type, so you can try 15%, 18% and 20% in a couple of seconds and pick the one that lands on a sensible number.

Rounding is where most bill-splitting arguments start. Round the per-person figure up and the group slightly over-tips; round down and someone quietly covers the gap. The rounding options here show you the difference rather than hiding it, so the table can decide.

Using the calculator

1. 1Type the bill amount exactly as printed, before any tip.
2. 2Tap one of the common tip percentages or enter your own.
3. 3Set the number of people if you are splitting the bill.
4. 4Choose whether to round the per-person amount up, down or not at all.

Should you tip on the pre-tax or post-tax amount?

Etiquette guides generally suggest tipping on the pre-tax subtotal, since tax is not part of the service. In practice most people tip on the total because it is the number printed at the bottom of the receipt, and the difference is small. On a 60 unit meal with 8% tax, tipping 20% on the subtotal is 12.00 and on the post-tax total is 12.96 - under a unit of currency apart. Decide once and stop thinking about it.

Tipping customs vary enormously

Always check whether a service charge has already been added. Paying a 20% tip on top of an included 12.5% service charge is a common and expensive traveller mistake, especially in tourist districts where the charge is printed in small type.

Splitting a bill fairly

• Even split is fastest and works when everyone ordered broadly similar things.
• Itemised split is fairer when one person had a starter and three drinks and another had soup. Total each person, then apply the same tip percentage to each subtotal.
• One payer, transfers later is the least friction in practice - one card, then instant transfers, with the tip already included in the figure you send.
• Remember shared items. Bottles of wine and side dishes are usually divided among the people who actually shared them, not the whole table.

Tipping beyond restaurants

The same arithmetic applies to taxi fares, hair salons, food delivery and hotel services, but the customary percentages differ. Delivery drivers are commonly tipped a flat amount rather than a percentage, particularly on small orders where 15% of a sandwich barely registers. Hotel housekeeping is usually a fixed amount per night, left daily rather than at the end of a stay, since staff rotate.

Card terminals that suggest tips have shifted expectations in a lot of countries, sometimes prompting for a tip in places where none was previously customary. A suggested percentage on a screen is a default, not an obligation, and it is often calculated on the post-tax total.

Related calculators

The Percentage Calculator handles any percentage question the bill throws at you, including working backwards from a total. The Unit Converter is handy when you are travelling and thinking in two sets of units at once, and the Age Calculator rounds out the set of small everyday calculations.