“Average” in Canada (well, IME, Ontario and Québec), tends to be 15-20% also. Our taxes are a compound of 7 and 8% between the federal and provincial taxes, so tipping the same amount as the sales taxes gives a 15% tip. Round up or add more at your discretion.
Yes, tips are taxed (depending on how the restaurant reports it). In most cases, the restaurant assumes you were tipped 15% and reports 15% of your total sales as income…plus whatever the restaurant pays as a wage. If you don’t tip a waiter/waitress at all, they still have to pay tax on what you didn’t tip.
Now if the service is piss-poor, I"m not suggesting a 20% tip, but 3% should be the minimum for really bad service. For good sevice, I’ll tip 20 to 25%. For mediocre service, it’s usually 15%.
As a chechako I wondered why the restaurants here are generally terrible. It’s the lack of tips to keep good servers in the field.
PS-Minor correction: North Pole has a sales tax. And poor excuses for eateries.
Not quite the case. There is no State sales tax. Many towns have a sales tax, including Fairbanks. Anchorage has none. I tip 20%.
Excuse me? Why should I tip 3% for “piss-poor” service?
Don’t get me wrong, I almost invariably tip between 15-20%, but if the service was so bad as to be terrible, I will leave no tip at all. And I’ll make sure the manager knows why I left no tip.
The custom there is to leave a penny. That way, they KNOW you were unsatisfied, rather than someone who stiffs or that you didn’t just forget to tip.
I’m just telling you what happens when you live in or around New York City, where the sales tax is as high as it is anywhere in the country.
I’m perfectly good at math. But you know what? They print the tax right there on the bill, and it eliminates the need to do any math at all. You double that number, maybe subtract a little if it’s a large number or if you weren’t thrilled with the service, and move on to your next adventure.
Canadian checking in.
Our sales tax (GST) is 7%. So usually I double that and round up to whatever I can do without leaving piles of change. If the service was quality I’ll give the amount they deserve.
Once again, tips have nothing to do with tax. If you happen to live in a state where sales tax is about half of 15-20% then you can double the tax, but everwhere else tips are appropriately 15-20% regardless, with 20% becoming more the norm.
I have to report my own tips. When I clock out at the end of my shift, I enter my tips into the computer. I’m expected to claim at least 8% of my sales, and if I don’t, I have an amount in the ‘allocated tips’ section of my W2 at the end of the year and then I have to pay taxes on that amount. I dunno about other states, but in Ohio, the restaurant is absolutely not allowed to declare tips for the server, and the management is not supposed to adjust a server’s tips without the server’s consent. (If I hit a wrong number when entering my tips on clocking out, I’d have to go ask the manager to fix it so I didn’t claim 488.90 when I meant to claim 48.89, and then I have to sign a paper saying that I consented to the manager adjusting my record.)
I definitely remember sitting at a table in Bridgeman’s in St. Louis Park, Minnesota in 1979 and reading this little tip table on the back of the bill that said 10%. Since I was a little kid at the time, I had nothing to do with it and I don’t know what people actually tipped, of course. 
25%? You people will pay up to a quarter of your bill again? I don’t think I’d be a popular diner in the States, no sirree.
Here, 10% is standard. maybe 15% if everything was above and beyond in terms of service. and if I don’t like the service (not dislike the food, where I’ll take it up with the maitre ), then no tip. I’d find leaving a cent insulting, so I wouldn’t do that, though.
I personally don’t give a shit if waitrons are underpaid. Tips are a gratuity given at my discretion, not a part of the bill. If they want the tip, they better do their job properly. This means no surliness or resentful attitude. It doesn’t mean I expect my feet to be bathed with their hair, just helpful service.
Of course, most restaurants here have a standard “10% surcharge on tables of 6+” rider on their prices, too. So even the industry considers 10% adequate.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Pink is alive and on these boards!
Read his location. We’ve all been talking about American customs, and he is from South Africa, where of course customs are going to be different.
Thanks for that, Lou . I suspect we inherited the 10% figure from the UK.
The Wiki page gives a nice summary of regional customs (I’ll have to add SA, I think).
It looks like the US is actually the standout there. If only the world’s wealthiest nation paid its service staff a living wage…
Just looking at it now - tattoo artists? WTF? That’s weird - do y’all have a lot of tattoo parlours where the staff are minimum-wage slaves?
Hallelujah!
I’ve been young and broke. It’s no excuse for undertipping, just for eating out less often. For that matter, I have a little brother who’s spent a lot of time tending bar and waiting tables. Even when money was tight, tipping 12% was unthinkable for him unless service was truly lousy, in which case, knowing him, he’d tip a lot less and tell the server what he or she was doing wrong. (My little brother is not tactful at times.)
Anyway, the OP was asking for more than just tipping wait staff. Here are my general rules:
[ul][li]Wait staff in a restaurant: 15% to 20% for average to good service. Less for bad service, and, if need be, an explanation. Not leaving a tip at all is unacceptable because the wait staff may think you forgot. A penny or nickel is a reasonable way to show your displeasure. By the way, when I’ve gone out to dinner with someone I’ve just started dating, or, for that matter, potential new friends, I do pay attention to how they treat the wait staff. A poor tip doesn’t make a good impression, although I may ask gently for an explanation.[/li][li]**Wait staff who bring me a to-go order which I’ve phoned in:**5% to 10% because I’m not hanging about waiting for a refill and needing them to keep an eye on me.[/li][li]Hairdressers/barbers: About 10% of the bill, rounded up to the nearest dollar. For example, I pay whoever trims my bangs at the local cheap chain haircut place $5.00 to trim my bangs. This is actually a bit more than 10%, but it’s easier and saves fiddling with change. I’ve also tried to trim my bangs myself, and they are better at it. I follow the same policy when spending two hours getting my hair redyed and trimmed. [/li][li]Building Maintenance Man: $20.00 per year at Christmas. I live in a condominium with a maintenance man who’s absolutely wonderful. He’s worth every penny of the tip.[/li][li]Newspaper delivery person: I think it’s about $5.00 or $10.00 on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. Most mornings the newspaper turns up on my doorstep before I leave for work. Reading the paper over breakfast is a small luxury, but it’s one I enjoy, especially since I live in a secure building.[/li][li]Hotel maids: $1 per person per day, or $5 for two people for a two night stay. I recently learned this may be a little low, though.[/li][li]Bellhops and baggage carriers$1 per bag, more if they’re heavy.[/li][li]Taxi drivers: 10% rounded up, variable by service. It’s been years since I’ve taken a taxi, though.[/ul][/li]I hope this helps.
CJ
This has turned into the usual weekly melee for this question. Moooo moo mooo moo moooo moooo moo.
Mind you now I don’t know why people from other countries are telling each other they’re wrong. Nothing is valued the same.
When is tipping not 12%?
When it’s cow tipping.
Mr Dibble- my apologies for not having read your post well. Clearly you are talking about your country. I apologize if I offended you.
Great, thanks! Anyone have anything else in this vein to add?