Whole cents, and why the split has an odd penny
Money is not a continuous quantity. A check of $87.34 is 8,734 cents, an 18 percent tip is 1,572 cents once rounded to the nearest cent, and the total is 10,306 cents. Divide that by three and you get 3,435.33 cents, which nobody can pay. This calculator floors the share at 3,435 cents and hands the remaining single cent to one person, so three people pay $34.35, $34.35 and $34.36, and the shares add back to $103.06 exactly.
That is the whole trick, and it is worth stating because the alternative is common and wrong. Rounding each share to the nearest cent independently produces a set of payments that does not equal the bill. On a large table, rounding each of eight shares up leaves several cents over; rounding each down leaves the bill short. Distributing the remainder as single cents is the only method that is both fair to within one cent and exactly correct in total.
Pre-tax or post-tax
The convention in the United States and Canada is to tip on the subtotal, before sales tax. The tax is money the restaurant collects for the state, not revenue it earns. In practice the difference is small: on an $87.34 subtotal with 8.875 percent tax, an 18 percent tip on the subtotal is $15.72, and the same percentage on the tax-inclusive total is $17.12. That is $1.40.
Card terminals almost always compute their preset percentages on the tax-inclusive total, so pressing "20%" on the screen is a slightly larger tip than 20 percent of the subtotal. If the amount you have is the tax-inclusive total, set the basis to that and enter the tax rate, and the calculator will back the tax out and figure the tip on what is left.
What the percentages mean where
| Where | Restaurant table service | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 18-20% of the subtotal | Parties of six or more often have a gratuity added automatically; check before adding another |
| Canada | 15-20% | Terminal presets frequently start at 18% |
| United Kingdom | 10-12.5%, or nothing if service is on the bill | An optional service charge can usually be removed on request |
| France, Italy, Spain | Service included; 5-10% or rounding up is generous | Look for service compris or servizio incluso |
| Germany, Austria | 5-10%, stated as the rounded total when paying | You say the figure you want to pay rather than leaving change |
| Japan, South Korea | None | A tip left on the table may be returned to you |
Rounding the total up
Setting the rounding option raises the total to the next dollar or the next five dollars and adds the difference to the tip, which is the only place it can go. It makes the split cleaner and it always increases the tip slightly, never decreases it. If you want the tip to stay exactly at the percentage, leave the rounding off and accept a total that ends in an awkward figure. The split reconciles to the cent either way.
Questions people ask
How does an $87.34 check with an 18% tip split three ways?
The tip is 18 percent of 8,734 cents, which is 1,572.12 and rounds to 1,572 cents, or $15.72. The total is 10,306 cents, or $103.06. Divided three ways that is 3,435 cents each with 1 cent left over, so one person pays $34.36 and the other two pay $34.35. Adding those back gives exactly $103.06. The calculator always distributes the remainder as single cents, so the shares reconcile to the total no matter how many people are splitting.
Should I tip on the subtotal or on the total with tax?
The subtotal is the convention in the United States and Canada, and it is what this page uses. Tax is remitted to the state rather than earned by the restaurant. The practical difference is around one to two percent of the check, so on most bills it is a dollar or two and nobody will notice either way. Where it adds up is on a large check in a high-tax city, and where it is worth knowing is at the card terminal, whose preset percentages are calculated on the tax-inclusive figure.
What if there is already a service charge on the bill?
Then the tip has been added for you and a second one is duplicate payment. Look for a line reading service charge, gratuity included, service compris or servizio, most often 12.5 to 20 percent, and most common in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and for large parties in the United States. To reflect that here, set the tip percentage to zero and read the total. In the United Kingdom an optional service charge can generally be removed on request; an automatic gratuity on a large party in the United States generally cannot.
Do I need to tip at a counter or a self-service kiosk?
It is not obligatory anywhere, and payment screens prompting for a tip on a counter transaction became common only recently. Nothing about the prompt makes a tip expected, and selecting no tip is not a breach of any convention. Where a tip is customary and where it is not is a social question that varies by country, by city and by the kind of establishment, and this calculator takes no position on it. It computes a percentage of a number you give it.