How much is a 20% tip on a $90 restaurant bill?

    How much is a 20% tip on $86.40, and how much less is it before the $6.40 of tax? Get the tip, the total and each person's share, with a round-up and the same check at six other rates.

    A 20% tip on a $90 bill is $18.00, for a total of $108.00. The calculator below opens with $90 and 20% filled in, one person paying and no sales tax line, so the tip is worked out on the full $90. At 15% the tip would be $13.50, at 18% $16.20. If the receipt shows tax, enter it: the Emily Post Institute puts table service at 15-20% of the amount before tax.

    Parameters

    Enter data for calculations

    The total on the check, tax included

    Optional, the tax line from the receipt

    Empty = before tax

    Table service is usually 15-20%

    Empty = one person pays

    Optional, raises the tip a little

    Form progress0 / 2 fields

    💡 Fill in all required fields to unlock the calculate button

    Tip, total and each share from one receipt

    Twenty percent of an $86.40 check is $17.28. Twenty percent of the $80.00 that check showed before $6.40 of sales tax is $16.00. This tip calculator gives you both numbers, so the difference stops being a guess: type the total, the tax line if you want to tip before tax, the rate and how many people are paying, and you get the tip, the total, each person's share and the same bill at six other rates. A round-up to the next dollar, $5, $10 or a whole dollar per person is one click.

    15-20%
    of the pre-tax amount for table service, per the Emily Post Institute
    57%
    of US adults in a Pew survey would tip 15% or less for an average sit-down meal
    $2.13
    an hour, the federal minimum cash wage for tipped employees
    $1.28
    what tipping 20% on tax adds to an $80 meal taxed at $6.40

    Reading the receipt into the form

    1. Bill total - the amount at the bottom of the check, tax included, before any tip. Cents are fine: 86.40.
    2. Sales tax - optional. Copy the tax line from the receipt if you want the tip worked out on the food and drinks only. Leave it empty when the receipt shows no tax or you tip on the total anyway.
    3. Tip on - the amount before tax, which is what etiquette guides use, or the full bill with tax. Left empty, the calculator tips before tax.
    4. Tip rate - a percentage with decimals allowed, so 18, 20 or 17.5 all work.
    5. People splitting - optional, a whole number. One person is assumed when it is empty.
    6. Round up - optional. The total can go up to the next $1, $5 or $10, or each person's share up to a whole dollar. Then read the tip tile, the share tiles and the rate table underneath.

    Before tax or after: what changes and by how much

    The Emily Post Institute puts sit-down wait service at 15-20% and says so in two words: pre-tax. The logic is simple. Sales tax goes to the state and the city, not to the kitchen or the server, so a percentage of it is a tip on money that never paid for service.

    How slightly depends on two things only: the tax and the rate. The gap is always the tax multiplied by the tip rate. $6.40 of tax at 20% is $1.28; $21.00 of tax at the same rate is $4.20. Each row below is a run of the calculator with the receipt shown.

    Receipt (before tax + tax) Rate Tip before tax Tip on total Gap
    $45.00 + $3.94 20% $9.00 $9.79 $0.79
    $80.00 + $6.40 20% $16.00 $17.28 $1.28
    $150.00 + $13.13 18% $27.00 $29.36 $2.36
    $240.00 + $21.00 20% $48.00 $52.20 $4.20

    Tips on common bills at 15, 18, 20 and 22 percent

    A quick-reference grid for checks from $30 to $150. Each cell is the tip alone, worked out on the amount you enter and rounded to the cent. Add it to the bill for the total. Twenty percent is the easiest to do in your head: move the decimal point one place left and double it, so $64 becomes $6.40 and then $12.80.

    Bill 15% 18% 20% 22%
    $30$4.50$5.40$6.00$6.60
    $40$6.00$7.20$8.00$8.80
    $50$7.50$9.00$10.00$11.00
    $60$9.00$10.80$12.00$13.20
    $80$12.00$14.40$16.00$17.60
    $100$15.00$18.00$20.00$22.00
    $150$22.50$27.00$30.00$33.00

    Splitting changes the cents, not the tip. Three people at 18% on $50 owe $59.00 together, which does not divide by three, so each share is rounded up to $19.67 and the extra cent joins the tip.

    Worth knowing before you sign the slip

    Tips are part of the pay, by law. Under federal rules an employer can pay a tipped worker a cash wage of $2.13 an hour and count up to $5.12 of tips toward the minimum wage. A worker qualifies as tipped above $30 a month in tips. Many states set a higher cash wage, so the figure where you eat may differ.
    Most people tip less than the guides suggest. In a Pew Research Center survey of 11,945 US adults, 92% of those who eat at sit-down restaurants said they always or often tip there, yet 57% said they would leave 15% or less for an average meal and only about a quarter said 20% or more.
    Not every counter works like a table. The Emily Post guide lists no obligation for takeout, with 10% for curbside service or a large, complicated order, 10-15% for food delivery and $1-2 a drink or 15-20% of the tab for a bartender.

    Tipping questions at the table

    Should you tip on the pre-tax or the post-tax amount?
    Etiquette guides say before tax: the Emily Post Institute lists table service as 15-20%, pre-tax. Tipping on the total is not wrong, it just costs the tax multiplied by your rate, for example $1.28 extra at 20% on $6.40 of tax.
    What is a 20% tip on $50?
    $10.00, for a total of $60.00. At 18% it is $9.00 and at 15% it is $7.50. The table above covers bills from $30 to $150.
    Why does the split come out a cent higher than the total?
    Because the total does not always divide evenly. $59.00 for three is $19.666..., so each share is rounded up to $19.67 and the three shares add up to $59.01. Rounding down would leave the table one cent short, so the cent goes to the tip and the result says so.
    Do you tip on a bill that already includes a service charge?
    Read the receipt first. If a gratuity or service charge is printed on it, that amount is already the tip or part of it, and the calculator should not be used to add a second one on top. Enter only what you want to add beyond the printed charge.

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    Calculator verified by the LiczGrupa.pl team

    Content, formulas and results have been reviewed for accuracy and relevance by our team of specialists.

    Krystian Szyszka

    Reviewed by: Krystian Szyszka