RunToolRunTip Calculator
Calculate tip amounts.
How to Calculate a Tip
Enter the bill amount
Type the total from your receipt.
Pick the tip percentage
Choose a preset or enter a custom percent.
Split if needed
Set the number of people and see each person's share instantly.
Tipping norms are local, not universal
In the United States, tipping is effectively part of the wage structure and 15–20% is expected. In much of Europe, service is included and rounding up is normal. In Japan, tipping can be actively unwelcome. There is no globally correct percentage, and applying the wrong local norm is awkward in both directions.
A calculator can compute a percentage but cannot know where you are or what is customary there. Treat the number as arithmetic and the percentage as a judgement you make.
Before or after tax
Tipping on the pre-tax subtotal or on the post-tax total gives different amounts, and both practices exist. On a bill with 8% tax, tipping 20% on the total rather than the subtotal adds roughly 1.6% of the bill.
It is a small difference on a small bill and a real one on a large one. There is no rule; the point is to know which you are doing rather than discovering afterwards that you tipped more or less than you intended.
Service charges and double tipping
Many restaurants add a service charge automatically, particularly for larger groups, and it is easy to miss on the bill and tip again on top. Reading the itemised lines before calculating is worth the ten seconds — an added 12.5% service charge plus a 20% tip is a 32.5% addition that nobody intended.
Whether the service charge reaches the staff varies by establishment and by country, which is a separate question from whether you have already paid it.
Splitting, and where the pennies go
Dividing a bill among people rarely produces whole numbers, and rounding each share down leaves the total short. The usual fix is to round each share up to a convenient amount, which slightly overpays and avoids an awkward reconciliation.
Splitting evenly is simple but not always fair — one person's set menu and another's three courses with wine are different bills. Splitting by what each person ordered and then adding a proportional share of tip and service is fairer arithmetic, if a slower conversation.
Doing the sums quickly, and privately
The mental shortcut worth knowing: 10% is the decimal point moved one place, and 20% is that doubled. Half of the 10% figure gives you 5%, so 15% is one plus a half. Most tipping arithmetic can be done from those three moves alone.
The calculation runs on your device and nothing is transmitted, which matters mainly because it means the tool works with no signal at all — a restaurant basement with no reception is exactly where you need it.