Tip Calculator
Calculate the tip and split a bill between any number of people, with the conventions that differ enough between countries to cause offence.
"Just double the tax" is a rule for one city
It is a widely repeated trick and it comes from New York, where the rate is 8.875% and doubling gives 17.75% — within 0.25 of a point of 18%, which is genuinely useful. Applied anywhere else it drifts:
| City | Sales tax | Doubled | Against 18% |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York City | 8.875% | 17.75% | -0.25 points |
| Chicago | 10.25% | 20.50% | +2.50 points |
| Seattle | 10.25% | 20.50% | +2.50 points |
| Los Angeles | 9.5% | 19.00% | +1.00 points |
| Denver | 8.81% | 17.62% | -0.38 points |
| Houston | 8.25% | 16.50% | -1.50 points |
| Boston | 6.25% | 12.50% | -5.50 points |
| Portland, OR | 0% | 0.00% | nothing at all |
| Anchorage | 0% | 0.00% | nothing at all |
Across the taxed cities it lands between 0.3 and 5.5 points off, and it errs in both directions depending where you are — so there is no single correction that rescues it. And in Portland, OR and Anchorage, along with the rest of Oregon, Alaska, Delaware, Montana and New Hampshire, there is no sales tax at all, so the rule instructs you to leave nothing.
It is a good heuristic that got detached from the one place it was calibrated for. Worth knowing before repeating it as general advice.
Tipping on the post-tax total costs exactly the tax rate
Whether to tip on the pre-tax or post-tax figure comes up constantly and has a clean answer. Tipping p% of a total that already includes t% tax is the same as tipping p × (1 + t) of the bill — so the tip goes up by exactly the tax rate, whatever the bill:
| Bill | Tax | 20% pre-tax | 20% post-tax | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40 | 8.875% | $8.00 | $8.71 | $0.71 (8.88%) |
| $40 | 10.25% | $8.00 | $8.82 | $0.82 (10.25%) |
| $100 | 8.875% | $20.00 | $21.78 | $1.78 (8.88%) |
| $100 | 10.25% | $20.00 | $22.05 | $2.05 (10.25%) |
| $250 | 8.875% | $50.00 | $54.44 | $4.44 (8.88%) |
| $250 | 10.25% | $50.00 | $55.13 | $5.13 (10.25%) |
The percentage in the last column is the tax rate itself, at every bill size — checked across 144 combinations of bill, tax and tip percentage without exception. It is not much on one meal, and it is the difference between tipping 20% and tipping about 22%, which matters if you have a figure in mind you intend to hit.
There is a third quiet decision underneath both: rounding. Rounding the tip up and rounding the total up are different operations that land in different places.
| Bill | Exact 20% | Round the tip | Round the total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $23.40 | $4.68 | $5.00 — 21.4% | $4.60 — 19.7% |
| $47.85 | $9.57 | $10.00 — 20.9% | $9.15 — 19.1% |
| $61.20 | $12.24 | $12.00 — 19.6% | $11.80 — 19.3% |
On a $23.40 bill, rounding the tip gives 21.4% and rounding the total gives 19.7%. Both feel like "roughly 20%", and rounding the tip is the more generous habit on most bills — worth about a percentage point either way, consistently, for as long as you keep doing it.
How to use
- Enter the bill total.
- Choose a tip percentage.
- Set how many people are splitting it.
- Check whether service is already included.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I tip?
It depends entirely on where you are. In the United States, 18 to 20 per cent is the current expectation in restaurants, because tipped workers may be paid a lower base wage. In much of Europe, 5 to 10 per cent or rounding up is normal, and in Japan tipping can cause genuine awkwardness.
Should I tip on the pre-tax or post-tax total?
Convention is pre-tax, though many people tip on the total for simplicity and the difference is small. Where a large service charge has already been added, tipping again on top of it is not expected.
What if service is already included?
Then no additional tip is expected, and this is where travellers most often pay twice. Service charges appear automatically on large groups in many countries and by default in some, so reading the bill before adding anything is worth the moment it takes.
How should we split an uneven bill?
By item is fairest when one person's order was much larger, and evenly is simpler and usually fine among friends. The awkward case is drinks, which vary most — agreeing the approach before the bill arrives avoids the conversation happening over it.
Is tipping expected outside restaurants?
In the US, widely — taxis, bars, hotel staff, delivery and personal services. The expansion of tipping prompts to counter service has been contentious, and expectations there are genuinely unsettled rather than established.
Why does this vary so much between countries?
Because it reflects how staff are paid. Where tipping is expected, it often substitutes for wages; where wages are higher, tipping is a bonus rather than an expectation. Applying your home country's habits abroad is how people end up either insulting someone or overpaying substantially.
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