Tip Calculator
Split bills and calculate tips
The number this calculator multiplies is whatever you type into the bill box, and choosing that number is the entire argument about tipping. The American convention bases a tip on the pre-tax subtotal. Nearly every card terminal — Toast, Square, Clover and the rest — computes its suggested 18/20/25% buttons on the post-tax total, and increasingly on a total that already contains a service fee.
On an $85.50 subtotal with 8.5% sales tax, the post-tax total is $92.77. Twenty percent of the subtotal is $17.10; twenty percent of the screen’s number is $18.55. The $1.45 gap is never announced, and it compounds across a year of meals. Enter the subtotal here if you want the customary basis, or the grand total if you want to match the terminal.
Everything below the bill box is a straight even split: total tip, tip per head, grand total, and the amount each person owes. For what is actually customary in 2026, as opposed to what the screen defaults to, see How Much Should You Actually Tip in 2026?
An $85.50 bill, four people, and the tax question
Start with the customary basis. Enter 85.50, press the 18% preset, set people to 4:
- Total tip: $15.39
- Grand total: $100.89
- Tip per person: $3.85
- Total per person: $25.22
Note what happens at the cent. The exact split is $25.2225, displayed as $25.22, and four people paying $25.22 hand over $100.88 — a penny short of the grand total. Any even split of an amount not divisible by the headcount leaves a remainder, and somebody has to absorb it. With cards this is invisible because each person’s share is charged separately against a rounded figure; with cash, round one person up.
Now the terminal’s basis. With 8.5% tax the check reads $92.77. Enter that instead and 18% gives a $16.70 tip, a $109.47 total and $27.37 each. The food did not change; the tip rose $1.31 because tax entered the base.
The four figures it returns
Total tip is the gratuity for the table — the number to write on the tip line of a single check. Grand total is bill plus tip, the figure that will hit the card. Tip per person is the one people forget they need: when a table pays with four separate cards and one person covers the whole tip in cash, this is the amount each of the others owes back. Total per person is the everyday answer, food and gratuity combined.
The presets run 10, 15, 18, 20 and 25%, and the custom field takes anything, including decimals such as 17.5. There is no rounding option, and that is deliberate: rounding the per-person figure changes the total by an amount that depends on headcount, whereas nudging the percentage up gets you a round number without anyone being short.
What is customary in the United States, by service
| Service | Customary tip | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Sit-down restaurant | 18–20% | Pre-tax subtotal |
| Counter service, coffee | 0–10%, or round up | Order total |
| Bartender | $1–2 per drink, or 20% on a tab | Per drink or tab |
| Food delivery | 15–20%, minimum $5 in bad weather | Food subtotal, not fees |
| Taxi and rideshare | 10–15% | Fare |
| Hair salon, barber | 15–20% | Service price |
| Hotel housekeeping | $3–5 per night, left daily | Flat, in cash |
| Bellhop, valet | $2 per bag; $3–5 on retrieval | Flat, in cash |
Housekeeping is left daily rather than in a lump at checkout because the person cleaning your room on Tuesday is often not the person cleaning it on Friday. Delivery percentages are conventionally taken on the food subtotal: the delivery fee and the service fee generally go to the platform, not the driver.
These are US conventions and they do not travel. In Japan tipping can cause offence; in much of continental Europe a service charge is included and rounding up is the whole gesture; in Australia restaurant staff are paid a full award wage and tipping is optional.
Auto-gratuity, service charges, and what reaches the server
Large parties. Many restaurants add an automatic 18–20% gratuity for parties of six or more. Check the itemised lines before tipping again; the presets on the terminal are frequently calculated on a total that already includes it.
Auto-gratuity is not legally a tip. Under IRS Revenue Ruling 2012-18, effective January 2014, a mandatory charge the customer cannot decline is a service charge and therefore wages, not a tip. It has to run through payroll, it is subject to withholding, and it does not count toward a tip credit. That reclassification is the main reason a lot of restaurants dropped automatic gratuity in favour of "suggested" amounts printed on the check.
Fees are not gratuities. A line reading "service charge", "kitchen appreciation fee" or "employee benefits surcharge" is house revenue that the restaurant may distribute as it chooses. Adding a full percentage tip on top of one is paying twice for the same thing unless the menu says the charge goes to staff.
Why the percentage matters more in some states. The federal tipped cash wage has been $2.13 an hour since 1991, with employers claiming a tip credit up to the $7.25 federal minimum. Seven states — Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington — do not allow a tip credit and require the full state minimum wage before tips. In a tip-credit state the gratuity is a larger share of the server’s actual income.
The arithmetic, and how to do it at the table
Tip = Bill × (Percent ÷ 100)Grand total = Bill + TipPer person = Grand total ÷ PeopleTip per person = Tip ÷ People
Mentally, 10% is the decimal point moved one place left, so 20% is that doubled and 15% is 10% plus half of 10%. The faster trick in most of the US is to double the sales tax already printed on the check: at 8.5% tax, doubling gives 17%; in New York City at 8.875%, doubling gives 17.75%. Both land just under a standard tip, so double the tax and round up.
For a round grand total, adjust the percentage rather than the split. On an $85.50 check, 18% gives $100.89; entering 17% gives exactly $100.04, and 16.96% would hit $100.00 on the nose. Raising the percentage is neutral to everyone at the table, whereas rounding each person’s share up by a quarter overtips by the headcount times a quarter.
When an even split is the wrong split
An even split is right when the table shared plates, or when everyone ordered roughly the same thing. It quietly transfers money when they did not. If one person had a $12 salad and tap water while another had a $48 steak and two $16 cocktails, splitting a four-way check evenly costs the salad about $22 and saves the steak about the same.
The proportional method: each person takes their own subtotal, multiplies by the tip percentage, and adds their share of tax in the same proportion. The Percentage Calculator handles those individual multiplications; this tool handles the case where the split really is even.
Separate checks avoid the argument entirely and most restaurants will do it if asked before ordering rather than after. Where a server has already rung everything on one ticket, splitting the payment across four cards is usually possible but the tip has to be divided by hand — which is exactly the tip-per-person figure above.
Frequently asked questions
Should I enter the subtotal or the total with tax?
The customary basis is the pre-tax subtotal. Card terminals compute their suggested percentages on the post-tax total, so entering the subtotal here will give a slightly lower tip than the button on the screen.
The per-person amounts do not add up to the grand total. Why?
An even split of an amount that is not divisible by the headcount leaves a remainder of a cent or two once each share is rounded to the cent. Round one person up in cash, or ignore it when everyone pays by card.
My party of eight already has 18% added. Do I tip again?
No, unless you want to add something for exceptional service. Automatic gratuity for large parties is the tip. Read the itemised lines, because some terminals then present tip suggestions calculated on a total that already includes it.
Is a service charge the same as a tip?
Legally, no. A mandatory charge the customer cannot decline is treated as wages rather than a tip under IRS Revenue Ruling 2012-18, and the restaurant decides how it is distributed. A voluntary tip you choose belongs to the tipped staff.
How do I get a round total without shorting anyone?
Raise the tip percentage until the grand total lands where you want it, rather than rounding each person share up. On an $85.50 check, 17% gives $100.04.
What should I tip on delivery when there is already a delivery fee?
Tip 15 to 20% on the food subtotal. Delivery and service fees generally go to the platform rather than the driver, so they are not a substitute for a gratuity.