How to split a restaurant bill, including tip and tax
Split a restaurant bill evenly or by what each person ordered. How to share tax, tip and service charges fairly, with examples and a free bill splitter.
Only one bill? Use the free calculator
Split a restaurant bill with tip, or split shared costs by income, right in your browser. No sign up needed.
The food was great, the conversation was better, and now there is one bill on the table and six people looking at it. Splitting a restaurant bill takes less than a minute if you know which method fits the table.
Decide before you order
The best time to agree on the split is before anyone orders. Ask one question: are we sharing or ordering separately?
- Sharing plates, similar orders, a set menu? Split the bill evenly.
- Very different orders, or someone on a budget? Split by what each person ordered.
Saying it up front saves the person who ordered a side salad from quietly paying for someone else’s lobster.
How to split a restaurant bill evenly
- Take the total on the bill, including tax.
- Add the tip.
- Divide by the number of people.
Example: five friends, a bill of $140 and a 20% tip. The tip is $28, the total is $168, and each person pays $33.60.
The calculator above does this for any total, tip and group size, and handles the leftover cents when the total does not divide evenly.
How to split by what each person ordered
- Go through the bill and write down each person’s items.
- Split shared items, like starters, sides and bottles of wine, between the people who had them.
- Add up each person’s subtotal.
- Share the tax and tip in proportion to each subtotal.
Example: a $100 subtotal, $8 tax and a $18 tip, so $126 in total. Every dollar of food costs $1.26 once tax and tip are added. If Mia’s items come to $30, she pays $37.80. If Leo’s come to $45, he pays $56.70. If Sam’s come to $25, he pays $31.50. Together that is exactly $126.
Tax, tip and service charge: who pays what?
| Charge | Fair way to split it |
|---|---|
| Sales tax or VAT | In proportion to what each person ordered |
| Tip | In proportion to orders, or evenly if everyone shared |
| Service charge already on the bill | Same as tip. Do not tip twice |
| Corkage or cake fee | Only between the people it was for |
A quick check before anyone pays: is a service charge already included? In many countries it is, and adding a tip on top means tipping twice.
The tricky situations
Someone did not drink. Pull the drinks out of the total and split them between the drinkers. Split everything else as usual.
It is someone’s birthday. The birthday person pays nothing, and their share is split between everyone else. On a $200 bill for five people, the other four pay $50 each instead of $40.
Someone arrived late or left early. Split shared starters only between the people who were there for them.
Someone forgot their wallet. One person covers them, and the debt goes into your group record so it does not depend on anyone’s memory.
Paying the restaurant: one card or separate checks?
Separate checks are easy for the group but slow for the restaurant, and many places do not offer them for large tables. The usual approach is that one person pays the whole bill on a card, collecting points or miles, and everyone else pays them back the same day.
When dinner is one of many
One dinner is easy. A week of dinners on a trip, or a weekly lunch club, is where people lose track. Half Tab keeps every bill in one group, lets you leave out anyone who was not at a particular meal, and at the end shows the shortest list of payments that settles everything.
For other kinds of shared bills, see our guide on how to split a bill fairly.
Frequently asked questions
Should you tip on the total before or after tax?
In the United States, many people work out the tip on the subtotal before tax, but tipping on the total is common too and slightly more generous. Agree on one for the group. In many other countries a service charge is already included, so check the bill first.
How do you split a check when someone did not drink?
Take the drinks out of the shared total and split them only between the people who had them. Split the food and tip as usual. This keeps the evening friendly for the people who skipped the wine.
How do you split a bill when one person pays by card?
Let one person pay the whole bill, then everyone else pays them back their share by cash or bank transfer. A bill splitter app records who owes what, so nothing is forgotten.
What is a tab bill splitter?
A tab bill splitter divides a bar or restaurant tab between the people who ran it up. Use the free calculator on this page for one tab. For a tab that grows over a whole trip, Half Tab keeps a running total for everyone.
