Look up the tipping custom for any country, with the relevant law where one exists, and calculate the tip and the per-person split.
Tipping is not a rule and it is not a universal custom — it is a local habit that varies between countries, between cities inside a country and between decades. In Japan a waiter may follow you outside to return money you left behind; in the United States leaving nothing means the person who served you earns close to nothing for your table, because federal law allows a tipped minimum wage of USD 2.13 an hour in many states. Between those two extremes sits every other country, each with its own expectations, and the expectations shift: Britain tightened its tipping law in October 2024, India banned automatic service charges in 2022, and Brazil has had the optional ten per cent "taxa de serviço" enshrined in law since 2017. A calculator that only does the arithmetic and skips the custom leaves the traveller doing the one thing a calculator cannot: guessing what the room expects.
This page pairs the arithmetic — percentage, split, total — with the custom for each country, citing the law by name where a law exists and stating honestly where the practice is ambiguous or changing. The notes come from where reference travel guides and local tourism bodies converge, and where they do not converge the note says so instead of inventing a number. The difference between "nothing is expected" and "nothing is expected but the custom has been drifting upward since card terminals started prompting for it" is exactly the kind of nuance a flat percentage table cannot carry, and it is what the notes are for. A law is different from a custom: the Brazilian ten per cent is optional for the customer and the restaurant cannot require it; the Costa Rican ten per cent is a legal service charge and you cannot remove it. The page names which is which.
Two common mistakes deserve their own paragraph. The first is confusing a cover charge with a tip: the Italian "coperto" and the French "couvert" are charges for the table setting, not for the service, and they do not replace or substitute for a tip — in Italy rounding up is enough on top of the coperto, and in France service has been legally included in the price since 1987. The second is assuming that a service charge reaches the staff: in several countries it does not, and a small cash tip on top reaches the waiter more reliably than the line on the receipt. The calculator runs in your browser — no bill amount is uploaded — and the table is reviewed on the date printed at the bottom. Customs change, laws change, and the restaurant in front of you is the final word.
Tip = bill × rate ÷ 100. Per person = (bill + tip) ÷ number of people.
Only where a law is cited by name. Everywhere else it is custom, which means it varies between a capital and a small town, between a counter and a hotel dining room, and it moves over time. The notes say "law" or "custom" so you can tell the difference.
An optional charge that is customarily printed on the bill but that you may decline — Lei nº 13.419/2017 makes it voluntary for the customer and, when it is charged, requires it to be distributed among the staff.
No. The calculation runs in JavaScript on your device. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
A cover charge for the table setting, used in Italy and sometimes in France as "couvert". It is a charge for the bread, the tablecloth and the setting, not for the service. In Italy rounding up on top of it is enough; in France service is already included by law.
Because federal law allows a tipped minimum wage of USD 2.13 an hour in many states, and tips are expected to make up the difference. Leaving nothing means the server earns almost nothing for your table. Some states have raised the tipped minimum, but the expectation of 15-20% has not moved.
It is reviewed on the date printed at the bottom. Customs evolve and laws change — the UK tightened its rules in October 2024, India banned automatic charges in 2022 — so treat the table as a recent snapshot and the restaurant in front of you as the final word.
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