Tip Split by Item Calculator
Split a restaurant bill when everyone ordered differently: tax and tip apportioned in proportion to what each person had, with the cents adding up exactly.
Tip Split by Item Calculator: with the default inputs, grand total is $110.60.
What this person ordered, before tax and tip. Leave a person at 0 to drop them from the split.
The tax line printed on the check — entered as a dollar amount, not a rate.
- Tip
- $17.30
- Person 1 owes
- $31.33
- Person 2 owes
- $23.01
- Person 3 owes
- $40.60
- Person 4 owes
- $15.66
- Person 5 owes
- —
- Person 6 owes
- —
- An even split would be
- $27.65
- Biggest unfairness in an even split
- $11.99 — the lightest order would subsidise the table by that much if you split evenly.
Assumptions
- Tax and tip are shared in proportion to each person's pre-tax items.
- A single tax rate applies to the whole bill; split-rate checks (food vs alcohol) need two passes.
- Cents are allocated by largest remainder so the individual amounts sum to the bill exactly.
| Their items | Share of bill | Tax | Tip | Owes | vs even split | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person 1 | $24.50 | 28.3% | $1.93 | $4.90 | $31.33 | $3.68 |
| Person 2 | $18.00 | 20.8% | $1.42 | $3.60 | $23.01 | -$4.64 |
| Person 3 | $31.75 | 36.7% | $2.50 | $6.35 | $40.60 | $12.95 |
| Person 4 | $12.25 | 14.2% | $0.96 | $2.45 | $15.66 | -$11.99 |
A negative 'vs even split' means an even split would have cost that person more than they ordered.
How this is worked out
The formula
share = person's items ÷ subtotal of all items tip = tip base × tip%, where the base is the subtotal (or subtotal + tax) each person owes = their items + share × (tax + tip + service charge) cents are allocated by largest remainder so the parts sum to the bill exactly
Open How it’s calculated above to see this worked through with your own numbers.
What you enter
- Person 1 — their items
- What this person ordered, before tax and tip. Leave a person at 0 to drop them from the split.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 24.5
- Person 2 — their items
- A number.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 18
- Person 3 — their items
- A number.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 31.75
- Person 4 — their items
- A number.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 12.25
- Person 5 — their items(under More options)
- A number.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 0
- Person 6 — their items(under More options)
- A number.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 0
- Tax on the bill
- The tax line printed on the check — entered as a dollar amount, not a rate.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 6.8
- Tip
- A number.a percentage · from 0 to 60 · defaults to 20
- Tip is calculated on
- Choose one of 2 options.The pre-tax subtotal · The total including tax
- Service charge or other flat fee(under More options)
- Split in the same proportion as the items.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 0
What you get back
- Grand totalmain answer
- Tip
- Person 1 owes
- Person 2 owes
- Person 3 owes
- Person 4 owes
- Person 5 owes
- Person 6 owes
- An even split would be
- Biggest unfairness in an even split
What this assumes
- Tax and tip are shared in proportion to each person's pre-tax items.
- A single tax rate applies to the whole bill; split-rate checks (food vs alcohol) need two passes.
- Cents are allocated by largest remainder so the individual amounts sum to the bill exactly.
About this calculator
When four people order and one had the steak, splitting the check evenly is simple and wrong. This calculator apportions tax, tip and any service charge in proportion to what each person ordered, which is the split most people agree is fair once they see it written down — and the one they get wrong when they try it in their heads.
Why proportional and not equal
Tax is charged on the items, so a person whose food cost twice as much generated twice the tax. Tip is conventionally a percentage of the bill, so the same logic holds. Splitting the extras equally quietly transfers money from the person who had a salad to the person who had the steak and two cocktails. On a $86.50 subtotal with $6.80 tax and a 20% tip, the person who ordered $12.25 of food owes $15.66 proportionally but $27.65 under an even split — a $12 subsidy on a modest dinner.
How to use it
Put each person's pre-tax items in their own field — you only need the sum of what they ordered, not the individual dishes. Enter the tax as it appears on the check (a dollar figure, not a rate), choose the tip percentage, and say whether the tip is figured on the pre-tax subtotal or on the total. Anyone left at $0 drops out of the split. Under More options there is a field for an automatic service charge, which is apportioned the same way.
Reading the results
Each person's line is their items plus their proportional share of everything else. The vs even split column shows who the even split would have punished, which is usually enough to settle the argument. The grand total is what goes on the check, and the individual amounts are guaranteed to add up to it exactly: the cents are handed out by largest remainder rather than each person being rounded independently, which otherwise leaves the table a few cents short.
Edge cases and etiquette
- Shared appetisers and bottles. Divide them by hand among the people who shared them and add each portion into that person's total before entering it.
- Alcohol. In some US states drinks are taxed at a different rate than food. If your check shows two tax lines, run the calculator twice or fold the drinks tax into that person's items.
- Automatic gratuity. Parties of six or more often carry an 18–20% service charge already. That is the tip; set the tip percentage to zero and use the service-charge field instead.
- One card, several people. The person paying should be reimbursed the exact figures below, not "about twenty each" — that is where the money quietly goes missing.
Frequently asked questions
▸What is the fair way to split a restaurant bill?
Everyone pays for what they ordered, then tax and tip are divided in proportion to those amounts. That way a $12 salad carries $12 worth of tax and tip, not a sixth of the table's.
▸Should tax and tip be split evenly?
Only if everyone ordered roughly the same. Tax is generated by the items, and tip is a percentage of them, so splitting the extras equally makes light eaters subsidise heavy ones.
▸Do the individual amounts add up to the bill exactly?
Yes. Rounding each person separately can leave the table a few cents short or over, so the calculator allocates the final cents by largest remainder, which guarantees the parts sum to the total.
▸How do we handle a shared bottle of wine?
Split its cost among the people who drank it and add each portion to their items before entering them. The calculator then apportions tax and tip correctly on top.
▸The restaurant added an automatic 18% service charge — do we still tip?
No. An automatic service charge is the gratuity. Set the tip to 0 and enter the charge in the service-charge field, and it will be split proportionally like everything else.
Put this calculator on your own site
A working split by item, free for any site, with no ads and no sign-up. It resizes to fit wherever you paste it and updates itself as this page improves.
Paste this anywhere. It works on any site, carries no ads, never expires, and always shows the current version.
Tip Split by Item Calculator by CalculateItNow
The page's own title. The clearest description of what the link leads to.
The credit line sits outside the widget on purpose, so it is a real link on your page rather than one buried in a frame. Please keep it — it is what pays for CalculateItNow staying free and ad-free. The script only resizes the widget to fit its contents; drop it and the widget still works.
Browse every calculator widget·How to add it to WordPress, Squarespace or Wix
Related calculators
The questions people ask next to a split by item.
Split a bill evenly between any number of people with tip included, or give one person a bigger or smaller share — see exactly what each person owes.
Work out the tip and total for any bill, split it between people, round the total up, and tip on the pre-tax amount — with a 15–25% comparison table.
Add sales tax to a price or back the tax out of a total you've paid, at any combined state and local rate — with the tax amount and the arithmetic shown.
Find what percent one number is of another, take a percentage of a number, or calculate percentage increase and decrease — with the working shown.
Compare up to three pizzas by area instead of diameter. A 16-inch is not twice a 12-inch — it is 1.78 times — and price per square inch shows which deal really wins.