are you suppose to include sales tax when calulating tip?

[jonnyjack]

like at a restaurant, are you suppose to tip a % on the total bill or the bill before tax? i tried searching for a thread but didn't find anything...

 

[Spoooon]

Look at it this way, your tip isn't going to change a significant amount no matter what you do. You may as well just tip based on the whole bill.

Some reading for your edification: straightdope

 

[Imported]

Tip is tax times two.. thats how my friends and I figure out the tip.

 

[Zugzwang152]

Originally posted by: Imported
Tip is tax times two.. thats how my friends and I figure out the tip.

that's not a very good way, unless you live in a state with high sales tax.

In answer to the question, technically no, you do not include sales tax when calculating the tip, but in most cases, it doesn't matter. Generally, 15% of the subtotal is the standard tip for decent service. If you want to show dissatisfaction, no less than 8-10%. Less than that means you should be walking out in disgust with the service. I average just under 20% where I work, which is by no means a fancy place. A generous tip will be 20-30%.

 

[Imported]

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152

Originally posted by: Imported
Tip is tax times two.. thats how my friends and I figure out the tip.

that's not a very good way, unless you live in a state with high sales tax.

In answer to the question, technically no, you do not include sales tax when calculating the tip, but in most cases, it doesn't matter. Generally, 15% of the subtotal is the standard tip for decent service. If you want to show dissatisfaction, no less than 8-10%. Less than that means you should be walking out in disgust with the service. I average just under 20% where I work, which is by no means a fancy place. A generous tip will be 20-30%.

Tax around where I am varies from 7.5 and up.. so it's the easiest way for us to calculate 15%. I usually tip more than most of my friends though.. worked at a restuarant so I know how it is.

 

[Monel Funkawitz]

You guys are funny. I have a simple way of doing tips.

I like the waitress and she does a good job without being pushy = $5

Lousy grumpy ass waitress (You know when you get these ones) = $0.05 (Cause it pisses 'em off)

 

[billandopus]

A good friend of mine had a saying:

Never tip on tax

However, I should say that pretty much anyone that's worked in the service industry tip more than the average layperson.

 

Originally posted by: bill_n_opus
A good friend of mine had a saying:

Never tip on tax

However, I should say that pretty much anyone that's worked in the service industry tip more than the average layperson.

WTF not? Does it really make that much of a difference? I ALWAYS tip on the total, after tax. I'm not in the poor house yet.

 

[Thegonagle]

After sales tax. 15-20% at a table service restaurant.

 

[mpitts]

I am not anal about what % I tip. I usually leave a very good tip, unless the waiter/waitress has a stick up their butt for some reason.

 

[Jmman]

I usually tip around 20% if the service was good. I don't try and micromanage the tip down to the penny. They are making $2-3 an hour, so this is the only way they make any money.....have a little empathy.....

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Assuming a 10% restaurant tax and a 15% standard tip, tipping on tax increases your bill by 1.5% of the total bill. That means if your total bill, not including tax, was $100, you'd have to shell out an additional $1.50.

If you really think it's significant that you can't leave an extra $1.50 on a heftily-priced meal, you might want to reconsider eating out with any frequency.

 

[fastz28]

Tax here is 8.25%, so I just 2x tax and round up to the nearest dollar.

 

[ElFenix]

doubtful, i just figure add another 25% of the bill for tax and tip, roundabouts

 

[Flash1969]

Wow, it seems that everyone tips their waiter/waitress but I use to deliver pizza part time (for 3 years) and It is amazing that when I used my own vehicle and paid for my own gas in the process of delivering food I would get stiffed approxiamtely 30% of the time. Why is this?? Very annoying

Tip your pizza delivery drivers people!

 

[Pepsi90919]

percentage? calculate? i can picture all of you geeks whipping out your calculators at the table trying to figure out, right down the thousandth place, how much to tip.

just leave 5 or 10 bucks or something, geez.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: Flash1969
Wow, it seems that everyone tips their waiter/waitress but I use to deliver pizza part time (for 3 years) and It is amazing that when I used my own vehicle and paid for my own gas in the process of delivering food I would get stiffed approxiamtely 30% of the time. Why is this?? Very annoying

i hear you

 

[Amused]

I just calculate the tip by figuring a 2 dollar tip for every 10 dollars on the bill for good service. $1.50 for every 10 for acceptable service. Nothing but an short written explaination of why there is no tip added to my CC bill for bad service, e.g., "my drink went dry for 15 minutes," or "we could never find you when we needed you." Stuff like that.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: Flash1969
Wow, it seems that everyone tips their waiter/waitress but I use to deliver pizza part time (for 3 years) and It is amazing that when I used my own vehicle and paid for my own gas in the process of delivering food I would get stiffed approxiamtely 30% of the time. Why is this?? Very annoying

Tip your pizza delivery drivers people!

I delivered pizzas years back for a while and usually cleared pretty well in tips. Not as good as being a waitperson, but then it isn't quite the same thing.

Don't let anyone tell you how to tip. There is no hard and fast rule no matter what anyone says, and I eat out a lot. For example, some people would tell you that you have to tip that asshole who spilled a drink on your shirt, brought your food to you cold, and left you waiting for a half hour after you were done eating to bring you your check -- all without apology (this has really happened to me). No, that asshole doesn't get a tip -- sorry. Had he apologized, I would have tipped something. No apology = 2 pennies on the table.
OTOH, if you get great service with a smile, tip as much as you want. For godssakes don't stiff there. Good service needs to be appreciated.
But the general rule of thumb is to tip anywhere from 10 to 25%, depending on the quality of service. Poor service deserves poor tipping. Never tip a set amount because you feel you have to. I have worked as a waitperson, and PLEASE do NOT tip well people who have given you poor service. And if a waiter makes ANY reference about the tip being too small, especially any comment like how you might get worse service next time, immediately make a complaint with manager, and never go back. Most restaurants operate on a shoestring, and most usually fail. That arrogant liberal-arts-major waitperson may be too stupid to understand the basic economics that keep him from the unemployment line, but his boss is usually smarter than that.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Why do we bother with this tipping bullshit? Why can't restaurants just pay their people their own damn selves?

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: mpitts
I am not anal about what % I tip. I usually leave a very good tip, unless the waiter/waitress has a stick up their butt for some reason.

Same for me beloved patriot.

 

[Gunslinger08]

If you sit there and calculate the tip to the penny, you deserve to have all your food jizzed in.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Why do we bother with this tipping bullshit? Why can't restaurants just pay their people their own damn selves?

Tipping directly leads to higher quality service. If waiters/waitresses were making $6 an hour with no tips, they wouldn't work nearly as hard to please you. It also helps to keep costs down, so that you don't have to pay more for your food. It averages out between the people that tip horribly and the people who tip very well right now. If there were no tips, everyone would have to pay the same increased prices.. you would have no way to use your dollars to vote for or against a particular waiter/waitress.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Why do you even ask??? do you want EVERYONE to know what a cheapass you are??


sheesh, on a $100.00 bill, $6.00 tax (in NJ) and 15% of that = $.90

$.90 in tips you are asking about.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: joshsquall

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Why do we bother with this tipping bullshit? Why can't restaurants just pay their people their own damn selves?

Tipping directly leads to higher quality service. If waiters/waitresses were making $6 an hour with no tips, they wouldn't work nearly as hard to please you. It also helps to keep costs down, so that you don't have to pay more for your food. It averages out between the people that tip horribly and the people who tip very well right now. If there were no tips, everyone would have to pay the same increased prices.. you would have no way to use your dollars to vote for or against a particular waiter/waitress.

Bingo!

Tipping leads to better service because YOU become the boss of your waitperson. If you want waitstaff to make wages and abolish tipping, just look to your local McDonalds or Best Buy for clues as to how poor service will be under a system like that.

PLUS, tipping lowers costs overall. If you understood payroll taxes, you'd know that to pay the waitstaff what they would make in tips would cost the cutomer twice as much as the tip would have cost.