Tip calculator
Enter the bill, the tip you want to leave and how many you are, and the amount per person is shown.
Per person
33.75
- Tip7.50
- Total67.50
- Rounded total68.00
Rounding is applied to the whole bill, so the amount per person comes out even.
How it works
The tip is worked out on the bill. Ten per cent of a £60 bill is £6, giving £66 in total.
In the United Kingdom some restaurants add a service charge to the bill. Since 1 October 2024 employers in England, Wales and Scotland have had to pass tips and service charges on to their workers in full.
In the United States the federal minimum wage law lets employers pay serving staff a cash wage of just $2.13 an hour and count tips towards the rest, as long as wage and tips together reach the minimum wage of $7.25. Some states require a higher wage.
Rounding is applied to the whole bill before it is split, so everyone pays the same and the total still adds up.
How the tool calculates
The tip is the bill multiplied by the percentage divided by 100, and the total is the bill plus the tip. The amount per person is the total divided by the number of people, which can be anything from 1 to 1,000. The percentage may have decimals, and the tool keeps every decimal until it shows the figures, rounded to the penny.
With rounding switched on, the amount per person is rounded up to whole pounds, and the rounded total is that amount times the number of people. The tip line then shows the difference between the rounded total and the bill, so the percentage you actually leave is a little higher than the one you chose. The Total line still shows the amount before rounding.
Example
A bill of £86.40 with a 12.5% tip, shared by four: the tip is £10.80, the total £97.20 and the share £24.30 each. With rounding on, each person pays £25, so the total is £100 and the tip becomes £13.60, which is 15.7% of the bill. If a service charge is already on the bill, the percentage is worked out on whatever amount you enter, so enter the bill without the service charge if you only want to tip on the food and drink.
Where tips and service charges go
Since 1 October 2024 the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 has required employers in England, Wales and Scotland to make sure that the tips, gratuities and service charges they receive or control are allocated fairly between their workers and paid out in full. The money must be paid no later than the end of the month after the month in which the customer paid it. GOV.UK adds that tips do not count towards the National Minimum Wage, and that workers pay Income Tax on them and may owe National Insurance.
VAT treats the two differently. HMRC’s catering notice says that a service charge is standard-rated, so it includes VAT, while a tip the customer freely gives above the total charge carries no VAT.