When Eating Out, Do You Tip On The Bill Pre or Post Tax?

[easysurfer]

I was hunting down apps for my smartphone and now I got a tip calculator app . Gosh, there's a lot of apps out there for that function.

When trying some out, I noticed the topic of tipping on the bill not including tax vs after tax is added in (total bill).

Personally, I've always tipped post tax and never gave that much thought. But I suppose the argument for pre tax goes like the tip is towards the food and service, not for Uncle Sam.

I'm curious as to where the rest here fall on the tipping approach.

Maybe the question is like, in Monopoly, when crossing Free Parking, do you collect money?

To make things simple, a simple Tip Pre Tax or Tip Post Tax vote, plus the obligatory other.

 

[meierlde]

I was hunting down apps for my smartphone and now I got a tip calculator app . Gosh, there's a lot of apps out there for that function.

When trying some out, I noticed the topic of tipping on the bill not including tax vs after tax is added in (total bill).

Personally, I've always tipped post tax and never gave that much thought. But I suppose the argument for pre tax goes like the tip is towards the food and service, not for Uncle Sam.

I'm curious as to where the rest here fall on the tipping approach.

Maybe the question is like, in Monopoly, when crossing Free Parking, do you collect money?

To make things simple, a simple Tip Pre Tax or Tip Post Tax vote, plus the obligatory other.

Note the tax is typically a state not federal tax (just nit picking)

 

[Senator]

I typically tip 15% on the total bill. That gives just over 15% on the food. Often I have a coupon, so I have to adjust the amount to include the coupon amount.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I usually tip 15-20 on the total bill

 

[gcgang]

Larry David and Jason Alexander on "tip coordination ".

Curb Your Enthusiasm, con subtitles espaniol (?).

 

[2017ish]

Depends upon the restaurant price. Rule of thumb, if $100 or more, tip based on pretax. If less than $50, post-tax. But we also vary the percentage based on service, and tend to tip higher percentage at cheaper places/meals.

 

[Teacher Terry]

WE always give 20% unless service is bad.

 

[haha]

I tip 20%, rounded up to nearest dollar on pretax amount. I go the same places often, I like the servers, I like them to be friendly to me, so sometimes I go higher. Always do on a smaller check.

When I was dating I found that a very easy and effective way to garner goodwill from a date was for her to see me treating the staff well, especially the female staff. It just makes everyone feel better.

Ha

 

[easysurfer]

Come to think about it, I've been lazy and generally double the tax as the tip. So, I really don't calculate based on before or after the tax added in.

 

[Meadbh]

My standard tip is 15% of the post tax amount. This is the default that pops up on the point of sale terminal that the server brings to the table. (I pay everything possible by credit card). If service has been bad, my tip goes down to 12%. For excellent service, I will round it up, but not above 20%. If I am in Alberta, where there is no PST, I will adjust accordingly.

 

[harley]

I tip 20% post tax usually, 15% (post) for meh service. If the service is bad enough that I'll never go back, no tip. If it's just the food and not the service, I'll tip 15% (post) but tell the manager why I won't be back. Also bad food, exceptional food, or exceptional service gets a Yelp revue.

I figure tax on $100 (way above our normal dinner) is ~$6, and 20% of that is only $1.20, so it's not that big a deal. For our usual meal we're talking dimes. I worked in restaurants long long ago, in a galaxy far away. They need the dimes more than I do.

 

[Sue J]

I tip 20% on the amount before the tax, then I usually round up to the next dollar or so.

DH came from a family in the hospitality business so he feels tipping is very important and should be generous unless there was something wrong. We don't eat out very often so I've learned to go along with his generous tipping thing.

We use cash for everything so the tip is in cash and given right to the server, just keep the change.

 

[aaronc879]

On the rare occasion I go out to eat, I eat at inexpensive restaurants. Whether my meal was $7 or $15, I just always tip $2 for my share of the bill. The wait staff isn't doing more work at the more expensive place so they shouldn't get more money.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I typically tip 15% on the total bill. That gives just over 15% on the food. Often I have a coupon, so I have to adjust the amount to include the coupon amount.

That is exactly what I do - including the coupon part. If the total bill even with the coupon value added back in is low, I'll usually add in extra.

 

[HadEnuff]

20% on total bill. But if it's a breakfast in a small diner, I'll go more. I figure they work pretty hard to bring me a $5 brekkie, I'll usually give them a couple of bucks just for waking up so early.

 

[rodi]

Like 2017, it varies based on whether it's a pricey restaurant or a less pricey place. I don't go to pricey places often - but usually feel that I've paid enough to justify the tipping on the pre-tax amount. It's still a a lot of money. For the less expensive places that I'm more likely to go to - I tend to tip on the post tax amount, and round up from there. But the tips are a lot smaller because the bill is a lot smaller.

As for percentage (which wasn't the question)... I tend towards 20%. But it varies based on service.

 

[Car-Guy]

OMG, life it to short to worry about if I'm tipping someone an extra quarter or two. I look at the total bill, add 10% if the service is poor but adequate and 20% if it's good and I usually round it up to the nearest dollar. Don't need any calculator or smart phone app to figure that either.

 

[Gumby]

I tip 20%, rounded up to nearest dollar on pretax amount. I go the same places often, I like the servers, I like them to be friendly to me, so sometimes I go higher. Always do on a smaller check.

When I was dating I found that a very easy and effective way to garner goodwill from a date was for her to see me treating the staff well, especially the female staff. It just makes everyone feel better.

Ha

A very wise course, Ha. A man is often judged by how well he treats those who have less power than him (such as waitstaff, in most cases).

I always take the total bill, including the alcohol and tax, and put down 20%, rounded up to the next dollar. Since we are not at all reluctant to spend on a good bottle of wine, it is usually viewed favorably by our server, and they always remember us when we come back.

I never leave less than $5, no matter the actual check.

 

[Corporateburnout]

20% of the total bill tax included. We tipped 25% on few occasions when the service was exceptional.

 

[Katiek]

Generally 20% on total, rounded up. But if it's a very cheap restaurant/diner, I always make sure it's at least a couple dollars.

 

[Willers]

20% on the total bill as a base. Will only go lower for terrible service, but will go higher for someone that goes above and beyond.

A story on this subject. DW and I once went to a restaurant and experienced pretty poor service. I had to go to the bar to get drinks and the timing was really bad. The catch...we could tell that the waiter was running as fast as he could, but they had obviously had staffing issues. Since it wasn't his fault and knew he'd likely see a lot of small tips we left him about 25%. We didn't think about it again until we went back to the restaurant about 2 weeks later. He remembered us and came over to thank us. He said that he didn't expect anything and said that it made his night. A little money had a big effect.

I worked years in service so I know about nights like that. It was great to pay it back a little.

Sent from my SM-T810 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[pb4uski]

I usually take 20% of the bill before tax and add that to the bill, but I normally round the tip down so that the total bill is in whole dollars, so in most cases it ends up being slightly less than 20% of the bill before tax.

So if the bill before tax was $25.42 and the tax was $2.54 and the bill before tip is $27.97 I would typically tip $5.04 so the total credit card receipt would be $33.00. So the tip would be 18% of the bill including taxes and 20% of the bill before taxes.

If service is particularly good I may a a dollar or two more and if it is really bad i may subtract a dollar or two but both is rare.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

im doing well in my life. At one point and time I was in the service industry and counted on those tips. So I do it after tax and something extra if service was outstanding.

 

[Texas Proud]

Come to think about it, I've been lazy and generally double the tax as the tip. So, I really don't calculate based on before or after the tax added in.

I do the same, double tax and round...

But, by definition that is before tax as the tax is based on only the cost of the meal... since our tax is 8.25% it starts at 16.5% before adjustment...

 

[pb4uski]

I do the same, double tax and round...

But, by definition that is before tax as the tax is based on only the cost of the meal... since our tax is 8.25% it starts at 16.5% before adjustment...

So it ends up being 16.5% of the bill before tax and ~15% of the bill after tax.