Are Tips Calculated Based on the Pre-Tax Subtotal or the Post-Tax Total Bill?

https://emilypost.com/advice/general-tipping-guide

by OhMeadhbh • 2 years ago

3 5 2 years ago

OhMeadhbh3• 2 years ago

I was going to post an AITA (Am I the A*Hole?) question about this, but thought the more technical bent of the HN community would give me an answer more in-line with my own INTP self.

And yes... I know... this is a very North-American focused submission. European and Asian countries seem to have a simpler system where tips are unneeded at best and sometimes interpreted as an insult.

I believe you should tip 15% or 20% based on how good you thought the service and meal was. 25% if it was exceptional. I understand people may have different percentages they use.

But the weird thing is for some reason I feel strongly that tips should be calculated based on the pre-tax subtotal and not on the post-tax total bill. Emily Post seems to agree with me. I have no idea why I feel so strongly about this, but at dinner tonight the restaurant had "Suggested Tips" on the bill that were calculated based on the post-tax total. I think I think the restaurateur is being shady by cheezing out a bit more cash for their servers so they can skimp on the hourly pay.

I sort of think of myself as a center-right kinda guy, so it seems strange I would feel this way.

Do other self-identifying right or right-of-center (or hell, left or left-of-center) people feel this way about tips? Is it a political thing? Is it just the time and place I was raised?

cmrx64• 2 years ago

Are you a high earner? Do you need to budget your food expenditures?

I tip 50% of the post-tax total (or $5, if that’s more) and feel good about supporting the local economy.

OhMeadhbh3• 2 years ago

Good Question. I don't think it's based on my ability to pay. I think it's some weird, deeply-programmed "social contract." 15% was the law. Yes. It's arbitrary and rationally it seems weird I have an emotional response to this. I want to support the local economy and wait staff. During the pandemic I started tipping 20%-30%, even for take-out. I had heard local businesses were having an unsure time, so I wanted to give them a bonus for being open and to help prevent them from failing.

But it's post-pandemic now and my feelings are going back to pre-pandemic.

Also, Europe is an existence proof of a culture that can pay wait staff a living wage. I would be happier if I knew the wait staff could get a guaranteed decent pay-check so they were less dependent on the largess of the dining public. But that's a project that will take more than a few HN posts.

As for cash. I'm not swimming in it. I'm probably "under-employed" as I work on some personal ventures. But I don't think my feelings about this have changed from when I was a reasonably well paid corporate drone.

Are Tips Calculated Based on the Pre-Tax Subtotal or the Post-Tax Total Bill?

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