Do you tip before or after tax on a restuarant bill?

Question

I never paid attention before and have have always tipped on the final total, but I am throwing a large party for a friend soon, and in this case it will make a big difference. What do you think?

Answer 1

After tax..

Answer 2

As a member of the restaurant community, and a member of the dining community, my training has always been: tip pre-tax. It has nothing to do with being cheap. You are paying for services rendered, not taxes incurred from such services. Usually the difference is minimal.

I also tip on quality of service, but let management know if the service has been poor. The next schmoe doesn't need to suffer through the same thing I just did.

Usually if your party is larger that 6 or 8 there will be a gratuity (tip) added on to the bill for you. That gratuity generally ends up to be around 18%. Check the bottom of the bill and the menu as most of them will clearly state this fact, so it will not be a surprise at the end of the evening. If you do have a question about it ask your host/hostess as they should know the answer.

Below are two links that should clear up any etiquette questions you should have on tipping just about anyone in the service industry. There is also a link to buy a tipping card, which is handy to have instead of trying to calculate the tip in your head.

Happy partying and tipping!

Answer 3

Usually I tip after-tax because it's not that big of a difference. But for a large party, I think you should tip before-tax unless the service was outstanding

Also, since you have such a large party, they might automatically charge you a certain gratuity %. So make sure you don't pay it twice. I've worked in restaurants before & when large parties tip over the grautity we charge them for having 8 ppl+, it always feel really nice. Large parties are more difficult to handle & usually result in a bigger mess we have to clean up so keep that in mind when you decide how much to tip or how much extra to tip.

Answer 4

Hmm, after looking at the answers already posted one could contend many people are just cheap. I always tip after tax AND according to service, but I also take into account the effort given even if the service is slow. Sometimes due to business volume or the speed of the cooks the service is slow. An apologetic or informative waitress/waiter who makes sure the order is hot and correct will always get a good tip from me regardless. A rude waitress/waiter will get a smaller tip and a waitress/waiter who doesn't seem to care may get no tip at all if they cop an attitude. But tax should never be a consideration when deciding a proper tip, only total (50%) and service, attitude, etc. of the waitress/waiter (50%).

Answer 5

Gratuity Before Or After Tax

Answer 6

Just on the bill, not the tax. It shouldn't be a huge difference though...on a $300 bill at 8%, a 15% tip would be $45, tax would be $24, extra tip on the tax would be another $4.

Answer 7

before tax. the tax is the governments not directly related to services rendered.

But calculating an exact percentage is a bit ludicrous. So on a big bill I'd choose the tip on the amount of time and effort that was spent in my opinion. It is like a bonus if they do well and just a small one to supplement their low salary otherwise.

Answer 8

i've always done it after, but remember some places add the tip to the bill if you have a large party of people. Call ahead an ask the restuarant if they do it.

Answer 9

After Tax. I just double the tax and add a dollar, it comes out about 15 to 20 percent. This is with a tax of 6 %.

Remember most wait staff only make a couple dollars an hour, then the rest depends on tips. Don't make their lives miserable.

Answer 10

TIP stands for To Insure Proper service. You should ALWAYS tip before tax,and furthermore, when a restaurant does the "for parties of 6 or more we automatically add 18% gratuity", they MUST NOT tax you on the gratuity. It is ILLEGAL for them to do that. I have caught restaurants doing that a few times and had them change the bill. Yeah it's only a couple of dollars but it's my dollars, not theirs.

Answer 11

Before taxes. Just remember that a standard tip is 20 percent these days. If the service is exceptional, give a little more. If the service is bad, I give ten percent. Unless it is truly horrible, and then they get nothing. But don't fault the server if the food is bad.. .that isn't their fault and they should still be tipped according to the service they gave.