Enter your bill, pick a tip percentage, and split it however many ways you need.
The arithmetic is one multiplication and one division. The only judgement is which number goes in the bill field.
| Tip | Tip amount | Total | Each of 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18% | $15.55 | $101.95 | $33.98 |
| 20% | $17.28 | $103.68 | $34.56 |
The difference between 18% and 20% is $1.73 on the check, or 58 cents per person. That is worth knowing before the table spends five minutes debating it.
Now the tax question. If $6.40 of that bill is sales tax, the pre-tax subtotal is $80. An 18% tip on $80 is $14.40, which is $1.15 less than tipping on the total. Both habits are defensible; what is not defensible is tipping on the total while believing you tipped on the subtotal.
The total includes the tip, and the per-person figure splits that total evenly. Uneven splits need a different approach: total the shared items, split those, then add each person's own items.
Tipping conventions are local, not mathematical. In the United States, 15% to 20% at a restaurant is the usual range for table service, with more for exceptional service and less where a service charge already exists. In much of Europe and Asia the custom is different, and applying an American percentage there is not generosity, it is confusion.
A service charge is not a tip. If a gratuity line already appears on the check, the staff may or may not receive it depending on the establishment, and adding another 20% is a decision rather than an obligation. Ask if the line is unclear.
One thing this page cannot do is decide whether the service warranted it. It converts a percentage into money, and the percentage is yours.
Either, as long as you know which you did. Tipping on the pre-tax subtotal is common and comes out slightly lower. Enter whichever base you intend to use.
Then a tip is optional. Check whether the charge is distributed to staff, and tip on top only if you want to. Automatic gratuities on large parties are the usual case.
Split the shared items first, add each person's own items, then apply the tip to each share. Doing it in the other order is how someone ends up paying for the appetizer they did not eat.
It is a common default on payment terminals, and 15% to 20% remains the conventional range for table service in the United States. There is no rule, and customs vary by city and by type of service.
Practices differ. Delivery is a service with a driver to pay, and takeout usually involves less service than a table. The calculator will compute any percentage you choose; the choice is social rather than arithmetical.
For the person receiving it, yes, and there are reporting rules for tipped employees. That is their tax question, not how much you should leave.
There is no federal tip rate. The IRS does care once the money is income for the person who received it.
Last updated: November 2, 2026. Reviewed by David Liu. Percentage conventions vary by country and by venue.