To split a restaurant bill with a tip, add the tip percentage to the total, then divide by the number of people. For a £64.50 bill with a 12.5% tip shared by four, the tip is £8.06, the total is £72.56 and each person pays £18.14. If everyone ate and drank about the same, that is fair; if not, split by what each person ordered and share the extras equally.
Note: this is general information about everyday money, not financial or legal advice. Tipping customs vary by venue and country, and the figures here are illustrative estimates. Check the bill to see whether a service charge has already been added.
The basic method: even split with a tip
The simplest case is a table where everyone orders roughly the same. The method has three steps:
- Take the bill total, including VAT, which is what the restaurant asks you to pay.
- Multiply by the tip percentage to get the tip: £64.50 × 12.5% = £8.0625, which rounds to £8.06.
- Add the tip to the bill and divide by the number of people: (£64.50 + £8.06) ÷ 4 = £18.14.
A quick way to do this in your head is to find 10% by moving the decimal point, then add half of that again for 15%, or a quarter of it for 12.5%. On £64.50, 10% is £6.45, and an extra quarter of that (about £1.61) makes £8.06. You can do the same at the table with your phone’s calculator in two taps. The House of Calculator tip splitter does the whole sum in one go and shows the tip, the total and the per-person amount.
The tip is normally worked out on the whole bill including VAT. Some people calculate it on the amount before VAT, and the difference is about 17% less tip, so it is a choice rather than a rule. Calculating on the full bill is the common habit and is what most tip charts assume. VAT explained: adding and removing VAT shows how VAT is built into a bill if you want to see the split.
Check for a service charge before you tip
In many UK restaurants, a discretionary service charge of around 10% to 12.5% is added automatically to the bill, often for larger groups. If that is on the bill, you have already tipped, and adding another tip on top is double-tipping unless you want to give more. Look for lines such as “service charge”, “optional service” or “gratuity”, and check whether it is optional. If it is described as optional and you are unhappy with the service, you can ask for it to be removed or reduced.
Since October 2024, employers in England, Wales and Scotland have had to pass on tips and service charges to workers fairly, under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, with a code of practice about how this should be done. Check GOV.UK for the detail. In practice, paying a tip by card or adding it to the bill is no longer a way for the business to keep it, but it is still sensible to ask how tips are shared if you care.
Common tip percentages and what they cost
There is no legal tip in the UK, and no single rule. Percentages in the range of 10% to 15% are common in restaurants, with 12.5% a frequent service charge, and you can adjust for the quality of service and the occasion. In some other countries, such as the United States, tipping norms are higher and often expected, so check local custom when you travel.
Here is how a tip changes a £64.50 bill shared by four:
| Tip | Tip amount | Total | Each pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | £0.00 | £64.50 | £16.13 |
| 10% | £6.45 | £70.95 | £17.74 |
| 12.5% | £8.06 | £72.56 | £18.14 |
| 15% | £9.68 | £74.18 | £18.54 |
| 20% | £12.90 | £77.40 | £19.35 |
The difference between a 10% and a 15% tip for the whole table is about £3.23, or 81p each. That is a useful reminder when deciding: the amount that matters to the person serving you can be small for each diner.
Splitting unevenly: pay for what you ordered
An even split can feel unfair when one person has a starter, a steak and two cocktails, and another has a side salad and tap water. A cleaner way is to split by item, and treat shared items separately. Here is a worked example for a £120 bill for four people:
| Person | Their own items | Share of £15 starter | Subtotal | With 12.5% tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ana | £22.00 | £3.75 | £25.75 | £28.97 |
| Ben | £35.00 | £3.75 | £38.75 | £43.59 |
| Cal | £28.00 | £3.75 | £31.75 | £35.72 |
| Dee | £20.00 | £3.75 | £23.75 | £26.72 |
| Total | £105.00 | £15.00 | £120.00 | £135.00 |
An even split would have charged everyone £33.75. Under the itemised approach, Ben pays £9.84 more and Dee pays £7.03 less. Whether the extra effort is worth it depends on the group. For colleagues at a team lunch, the itemised method is often better received. Among close friends, evenly sharing tends to even out over several meals.
A middle route: split the drinks and food separately
A good compromise is to split drinks and food as two groups. If three people drank alcohol and two did not, put the bar bill on the three who drank and share the food bill evenly across all five. Say the food comes to £105 and the drinks to £52, with a 12.5% tip on the total of £157:
- Food per person for five: £105 ÷ 5 = £21.00.
- Drinks per drinker for three: £52 ÷ 3 = £17.33.
- Tip on the total: £157 × 12.5% = £19.63, which is roughly 12.5% of each person’s share.
So the drinkers each pay about £38.33 before tip, and the non-drinkers pay £21.00. Add the tip in proportion: each person adds 12.5% of their own share. Drinkers pay about £43.12 and non-drinkers about £23.63. The total comes back to £176.63 once rounded, which matches £157 plus the £19.63 tip within a few pence.
What to do about rounding
Dividing a bill almost never comes out in whole pennies. A £186.40 bill with a 10% tip shared by six is £205.04 in total, and £205.04 ÷ 6 is £34.1733, so the tip splitter shows £34.17 each. Six payments of £34.17 add up to £205.02, which is 2p short. In practice there are three ways to handle it:
- Round every share up to the nearest 50p or pound. Six people paying £35 gives £210, so the extra £4.96 becomes a bigger tip, which is about 12.7%.
- Round down for all but one person and let that person pay the odd pence.
- Use a card payment split. Many restaurants can split a bill across cards, which makes the rounding automatic.
Rounding up is usually the simplest way to get to a tidy tip without arguing about pence. Rounding to a tip you are happy with is also a fair way to do it. For example, on £96.80 for five people with a 15% tip, the total is £111.32 and each person pays £22.26. Making that £23 each brings the tip from £14.52 to £18.20.
Splitting when someone is paying for everyone
Sometimes one person pays the whole bill and the others transfer money afterwards. A few habits keep this smooth:
- Agree the split before the bill arrives, particularly if some of you are leaving early.
- Include the tip in the amount you ask for, so the person who paid is not left covering it.
- Ask for the figure as an amount, not as a percentage of the bill. “£22.26 each” is easier to pay than “a fifth plus a bit”.
- If there is a bill-splitting app, use it, but check that it applies the same tip rate to everyone.
For couples or friends who go out regularly, some people alternate who pays instead of splitting each time. Over a year, it often evens out, and it saves the sums.
Special cases: birthdays, vouchers and discounts
Birthday dinners raise the question of whether the guest of honour pays. If the group agrees to cover them, divide the bill among the others: for a £250 bill with a 12.5% tip, the total is £281.25 and eight people each pay £35.16. If the guest of honour is excluded, seven people pay £40.18 instead, an extra £5.02 each. Decide in advance so nobody is surprised.
Vouchers and discount codes need care. If you have a 20% off voucher, the restaurant usually applies it before service charge, though policies vary. Tip on the amount you actually paid, or on the amount before the discount if you want to reward the full service. The second option is generous and is more usual when the discount was a special offer you used rather than a service problem. Percentage change, increases and discounts explains how successive percentages combine, which helps if a voucher and a service charge both apply.
If the service was poor, you can reduce or leave a tip, and say why politely. If it was good, the tip is a simple way to show it. Whatever you decide, aim to be consistent in the group, and keep the tip as a share of the same bill.
Common mistakes when splitting a bill
- Forgetting that a service charge is already included, then adding a further tip.
- Dividing the bill first and adding the tip per head afterwards using different percentages.
- Adding the tip to the drinks only, or the food only, when the table meant it to cover everything.
- Letting one person cover the rounding every time.
- Not checking the bill for errors before splitting it. It takes a minute and can save a few pounds.
If you want a refresher on how percentages work in general, How to calculate percentages covers the arithmetic behind a tip.
Try the calculator
Put the bill, the tip percentage and the number of people into the Tip Calculator and Bill Splitter to see the tip, the total and what each person pays. Then adjust the percentage to compare tips.
Frequently asked questions
How much should you tip in a UK restaurant?
There is no fixed amount. Between 10% and 15% is common, and 12.5% is a typical service charge. Check whether a service charge has already been added to your bill before you tip.
Do you tip on the bill before or after VAT?
Most people tip on the full bill, including VAT, because that is the figure on the receipt. Tipping on the pre-VAT amount gives a slightly lower tip. Neither is wrong, so pick one and stay consistent.
How do I split a bill when people ordered different amounts?
Add up each person’s own items, split shared dishes equally, then add the tip percentage to each person’s subtotal. Alternatively, split drinks among drinkers and food among everyone.
Is a service charge compulsory?
A service charge that is described as discretionary or optional is not compulsory, and you can ask for it to be removed if you are unhappy. If a menu clearly states a mandatory charge, check it before you order. Look at the wording on the bill and ask staff if it is unclear.
What if the bill does not divide evenly?
Round each share up to the nearest 50p or pound, and treat the extra as a slightly larger tip. Or split the payment across cards so the restaurant handles the pennies.