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Comment by milkytron | Hacker News Reader

Regardless of the debate of whether tipping should be the norm, I've found that nearly all of the suggested tip amounts are generated using the after tax price.

When I was young my dad pointed this out to me when it would happen on restaurant receipts, and then I'd have to listen to him tell the waiter who clearly did not care. But especially now, nearly all of the suggested tip amounts are calculated after tax is included. After seeing it done so much I think this has become the norm, and don't even check the pre-tax vs post-tax math anymore.

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Let's say the bill was $100. Let's say tax is 6%. Let's say your dad wanted to tip 20%. Your dad is talking to the waiter over a mere suggestion of $1.20 that the waiter has zero control over.

In my experience, I'd say half the bills I get have suggested tips and of those I can count on one hand how many suggested the tip on post tax amounts. I used to give an exact pretax 20% tip, just on principle, but one day just I realized it was kind of silly to worry over such little amounts. Forget principles, the day I can't afford to tip well is the day I can't afford to dine at a restaurant.

I just go down a percentage category if the tips are calculated post tax.

Why is tipping even calculated as a percentage? It's not like the work done by the waiter is suddenly 10x harder or more deserving of reward when they're bringing a plate with a $100 dish rather than a $10 dish.

First of all, the final bill is typically larger because more dishes were brought. Second, if that is not the case, waiters are expensive places expect more, because those places are more expensive and hire better waiters who do more and better work.

>First of all, the final bill is typically larger because more dishes were brought

I suppose that makes sense in certain cases (eg. you getting appetizer + drink + main + desert vs just a main), but utterly broken in others (eg. you getting a $15 main vs a $25 main). If tips were truly based on service it'd be a flat fee per plate or something, that varies per restaurant.

$15/25 just per cent, not even a doubling.

When a restaurant brings a bill that's six times larger than the one to the next table, that's usually because twelve people sit at your table and need service, and two people do at the next.

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