# Credit card newbie: How do I tip? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 24, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065 "2003-06-24T16:21:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/1 "2003-06-24T16:21:14Z")
I got the first credit card of my life recently, but so far I’ve only used it once, to pay for train tickets at the counter. I wonder how I would tip in a restaurant using the card. Can I ask the waiter to add the tip to the bill? I guess this might not even be possbile because it could mess up the restaurant’s internal payment processing system. Or do I only pay the bill itself with the card and tip the waiter cash? Probably there are several methods to do it, that’s why I’m asking the SDMB community for their personal procedure. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/2 "2003-06-24T16:26:15Z")
The waitstaff doesn’t like tips on credit cards and some establishments don’t allow the practice. Go with your 2nd instinct, tip w/cash - it’s appreciated. You’d write a zero the the gratuity line and write the total on the bottom of the receipt. You’d never ask them to write the amount in, you’d write it in yourself when your sever brings back the receipt to be signed. There are several dishonest servers out there who’ve been known to “increase” the tip amount on the card after you leave ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/3 "2003-06-24T16:28:05Z")
Use the line on the bill that says “Tip” to write in your tip. Underneath that, there’s a line that says “Total”, where you write in the total amount. At the very bottom is a line that says “Signature”, where you sign your name. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/4 "2003-06-24T17:14:33Z")
> [@](#): > > The waitstaff doesn’t like tips on credit cards This sounds like a bit of a generalization. Why exactly? I like tipping with the cc because I usually don’t have cash, or certainly not in the right increments. I also get to round (up) the figures, so everything’s easy to track and add later. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/5 "2003-06-24T17:42:55Z")
OK, I didn’t know there was a special line on the receipt for that (thinking about it, it surely was to be expected - millions of people must have had the same problem :smack: ). Anyway, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/6 "2003-06-24T17:59:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JohnBckWLD \* > \*\*The waitstaff doesn’t like tips on credit cards and some establishments don’t allow the practice. \*\* I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but I’ve never encountered a policy like this. If I did, I would certainly complain to the management (and apologize to the waiter for being unable to leave a tip). ---
**Author:** ![Sionach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Sionach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sionach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/7 "2003-06-24T18:08:25Z")
The reason some waitstaff doesn’t always like credit card tips is because (a) they have to wait to get their money, and (b) since there’s a record of it, they have to declare it on their taxes. I don’t carry cash, ever, so I figure a credit card tip is better than none at all, but you know, if they really didn’t want to take a credit card tip, I could just keep my money. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/8 "2003-06-24T18:09:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JohnBckWLD \* > **The waitstaff doesn’t like tips on credit cards and some establishments don’t allow the practice.** Maybe things are different in your area, but wherever I’ve lived (New Orleans; Baton Rouge,LA; Jackson, MS), credit card tipping is invariably allowed wherever credit cards are accepted. I waited my share of tables, and I can’t think of a single reason to dislike credit card tips (except maybe that they were automatically tracked for tax purposes). Where I worked, I’d get my CC tips in cash from the restaurant at the end of my shift. No muss, no fuss. I have heard of a very few places that disperse credit card tips weekly, so that if one were to get CC tips all evening, one could walk out the door without a cent in one’s pocket. But those kinds of places seem to be pretty rare. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/9 "2003-06-24T18:11:00Z")
As a person who’s made thousands of dollars off credit card tips, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with tipping on your credit card, and I’ve never heard a waiter or a manager complain about it. Credit card tips are subtracted from the cash owed by the server to the restaurant for his sales; he gets the tip immediately, so it might as well be considered cash. The only reason a server would have for disliking a credit card tip is if he’s trying not to declare to the IRS all the money he’s making. Cash can be lied about, but a credit card tip is proof and has to be claimed. :shrug: I’d still take a credit card tip over no tip at all. It’s all green to me! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/10 "2003-06-24T18:13:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sionach \* > \*\*The reason some waitstaff doesn’t always like credit card tips is because (a) they have to wait to get their money, and (b) since there’s a record of it, they have to declare it on their taxes. \*\* I only had to wait a few hours for my tip money, though – and that was typical in my area. In a place that paid out CC tips weekly, I could better understand the beef. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/11 "2003-06-24T18:18:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Audrey Levins \* > **The only reason a server would have for disliking a credit card tip is if he’s trying not to declare to the IRS all the money he’s making. Cash can be lied about, but a credit card tip is proof and has to be claimed.** Furthermore, really, there’s only so much you can BS the IRS. You can’t get away with pretending you make almost no tips. Over time, there’s always enough play room in one’s cash tips to fudge enough downwards, if one felt one needed to. Not getting CC tips really wouldn’t save anyone much on taxes unless one were willing to constantly run the risk of audit. It’s much more prudent to claim 8-10% of one’s sales and play it safe. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/12 "2003-06-24T18:19:02Z")
How should you tip? **Heavily** 🙂 As a waiter in Dallas and Houston I have never heard of a place that doesn’t give you your CC tips at the end of the night. Perhaps that happens in restaraunts/diners where they have only a cash register at the front? In my restaraunt we act as a sort of middle man. The customer pays me and I pay the store. Then: Owed-tips=turned in to the store. That way we get our tips immediately. Either way works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Sionach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Sionach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sionach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/13 "2003-06-24T18:20:09Z")
Yah, bordelond, that’s the type of place I’m referring to (hence the “_some_ waitstaff” 😉 ) . . . I’ve heard about some restaurants which give weekly tips based on CC’s, and others which make the waitstaff wait 'til the CC payment actually clears. In cases where the waitstaff get their tips the same night, some less-honest people get huffy 'cause they can’t pocket the money and pretend their tips weren’t as big. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/14 "2003-06-24T18:21:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > \*\*Furthermore, really, there’s only so much you can BS the IRS. You can’t get away with pretending you make almost no tips. Over time, there’s always enough play room in one’s cash tips to fudge enough downwards, if one felt one needed to. > > Not getting CC tips really wouldn’t save anyone much on taxes unless one were willing to constantly run the risk of audit. It’s much more prudent to claim 8-10% of one’s sales and play it safe. \*\* Exactly what I 've been trying to tell my coworkers. They think they are saving money on taxes by not claiming all their tips. They would have to do that **a lot** to drop into another tax bracket. Not worth it to me. Lets see them get a loan or credit based on the low tips they claim! ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/15 "2003-06-24T18:36:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sionach \* > \*\*In cases where the waitstaff get their tips the same night, some less-honest people get huffy 'cause they can’t pocket the money and pretend their tips weren’t as big. \*\* Why would they want to pretend their tips were smaller than they? Are you talking about places where the waiter tips out other staff (bussers, bartenders, hosts, food runners, etc.)? ---
**Author:** ![Sionach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Sionach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sionach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-newbie-how-do-i-tip/184065/16 "2003-06-24T18:57:19Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by bordelond_ > **Why would they want to pretend their tips were smaller than they? Are you talking about places where the waiter tips out other staff (bussers, bartenders, hosts, food runners, etc.)?** Partly, but mostly I’m talking about the waitstaff who like to take their 20% tips and only claim 10% on their income taxes (yes, I have really heard some waitstaff complain about CC tips for this reason). If there’s a credit card record of the tips, it’s rather more difficult to pretend your tips were smaller than they are. I know not everyone does this, and probably not even a majority, but there are people who do.