Tip Calculator

About Tip Calculator

A tip calculator works out the gratuity and total for a bill and splits it evenly across your group. Enter the bill, tap a tip percentage (10, 15, 18, 20, 25%, or a custom amount), and set how many people are splitting — the tip, total, and per-person share update instantly in your browser.

Tipping norms vary enormously by country

There is no universal percentage. In the United States, restaurant tipping of 18–20% is standard because tipped staff may be paid a lower base wage that gratuities are expected to top up. In much of Europe service is included by law and rounding up or leaving 5–10% is generous rather than expected. In Japan and South Korea tipping is not customary and can cause confusion.

Because the norm is cultural rather than mathematical, the honest advice is to check the local expectation rather than apply a habit from home. Over-tipping abroad is a minor social awkwardness; under-tipping in a country where staff depend on it is a real cost to someone.

Before or after tax, and the service charge trap

Whether to tip on the pre-tax or post-tax total is genuinely contested. Tipping on the pre-tax subtotal is the more defensible position — tax is not part of the service — but many people simply use the bill total for convenience. On a 100 bill with 8% tax the difference at 20% is 1.60, which is small enough that either is reasonable.

The more expensive mistake is tipping on top of a service charge that has already been added. Many restaurants add 12–18% automatically for larger groups, and it is frequently printed in small type at the bottom of the bill. Check for it before calculating, or you may tip twice.

Quick mental arithmetic

For 20%, move the decimal one place left to get 10% and double it — a 47.50 bill gives 4.75, so 9.50. For 15%, take that 10% and add half of it again: 4.75 plus 2.38 is about 7.13. For 18%, take 20% and subtract a tenth of it.

These are worth knowing because they let you sanity-check what a card terminal suggests. Payment machines increasingly present pre-set percentages calculated on the post-tax total, and sometimes on a total that already includes a service charge — a prompt offering 25% is not the same 25% you would have arrived at yourself.

Splitting fairly

An even split is fine when everyone ate similarly and awkward when they did not — one person on a salad and tap water subsidising another's steak and wine. For mixed groups, splitting by what each person ordered and then applying the same tip percentage to each share is fairer and takes a minute.

Rounding is the other practical detail. A per-person share of 23.47 is annoying in cash, so groups usually round up to the nearest whole unit, which quietly increases the tip. That is generally the intention, but if you are splitting on separate cards, make sure the rounding is applied once to the total rather than by each person independently — otherwise the sum overshoots the bill.

Frequently asked questions

How much should I tip?

In the US, 15–20% of the pre-tax bill is customary for table service — 18–20% for good service. Adjust for service quality and local norms; the tool lets you set any percentage.

How do I split a restaurant bill with tip?

Enter the bill and tip percentage, then set the number of people. The calculator adds the tip to the total and divides it evenly, showing the per-person amount under 'Each'.

Can I tip on a custom percentage?

Yes. Alongside the 10/15/18/20/25% presets there's a custom field — type any percentage and the tip, total, and per-person share update instantly.

Does it split the tax too?

It splits the bill total plus tip evenly across the number of people you enter. If your bill already includes tax, the split covers it; enter the after-tax total to divide everything.