The Emily Post chart lists a delivery tip of 10% to 15% of the bill, and $2 to $5 for pizza depending on size and difficulty. An October 2, 2025 Emily Post note says around 10%, or $5 or more, for groceries or other daily items, or for restaurant takeout. DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Instacart each say the tip is a separate line from the fees.
How much does the chart say?
The Emily Post Institute chart lists a delivery tip of 10% to 15% of the bill, and $2 to $5 for pizza delivery depending on the size of the order and the difficulty of the delivery. The same chart says ordinary takeout has no obligation, with 10% for extra service such as curb delivery or for a large, complicated order. That takeout line is in the restaurant guide.
A separate Emily Post note dated October 2, 2025, adapted from Emily Post's Etiquette, says something narrower for deliveries of groceries or other daily items, or takeout from a restaurant: around 10%, or $5 or more per order. For curbside pickup of groceries or food, it says a couple of dollars is kind, and $5 if the load or order is large. The chart's delivery line is 10% to 15% of the bill. The October note's delivery line is around 10% or $5 or more. They are not the same sentence, and neither one prints 20%.
Ten percent of a $42 food bill is $4.20. Fifteen percent is $6.30. Those two links open the chart's ends: $42 at 10% and $42 at 15%. The chart says "of the bill." It does not say to strip the delivery fee out before you multiply, and it does not say the fee is the tip. The app pages below are the ones that separate those lines.
What about a small order?
Fifteen percent of an $18 order is $2.70. Ten percent is $1.80. The October 2 note's "$5 or more" is written for deliveries of groceries or other daily items, or restaurant takeout, so on an $18 order of that kind the dollar figure in the note is larger than 15% of $18. Pizza is the chart's other line: $2 to $5 depending on the size of the order and the difficulty of the delivery. A $2 pizza tip is inside that chart. It is not that note's $5.
The $18 at 15% link shows the $2.70 figure. It is the chart's percent on that bill, not a second rule that replaces the October note's $5 for grocery and takeout delivery.
Which app fees reach the driver?
Each row uses that company's own help page, checked 19 October 2026: DoorDash, Uber Eats fees, Uber Eats tips, and Instacart. A fee and a tip are not the same line on any of the three.
| App | The fee | The tip |
|---|---|---|
| DoorDash | The listed fees go to DoorDash: service, delivery, long distance, regulatory response, small order, weather impact, and optional express. The page also says those fees help cover paying Dashers. A weather impact fee is described as support for Dashers during a major weather event, and it is still in the list of fees that go to DoorDash | Optional. Every dollar goes to the Dasher. Dashers receive 100% of customer tips |
| Uber Eats | Fees do not constitute gratuities. The delivery fee goes to couriers, or to a merchant that handles its own delivery. Of the service fee, $0.10 goes to Uber and the rest goes to the courier. Couriers pay a portion of the fees they receive back to Uber for services such as lead generation and payment processing. The small-order fee goes to the merchant. The long-range, delivery-adjustment, and priority fees go to couriers | Never required. 100% of a tip added in the app goes to the delivery person. Cash at the door is also a tip. A tip added before the order can be edited for one hour after delivery. A tip added after the order can be added for up to 40 days |
| Instacart | The service fee is not a tip and does not go to the shopper. It covers platform costs, including shopper operations, insurance, background checks, and customer support. The delivery fee varies by retailer, window, and order total. That page does not say the delivery fee is paid to the shopper | Separate from the service fee. 100% of the tip goes to the shopper |
DoorDash's help page says the fee list can change, and that a newer calculation is rolling out starting in late July 2026 in U.S. markets other than California, Chicago, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York City, Puerto Rico, and Seattle. In both the rollout markets and the markets still on the older list, the page says the fees go to DoorDash and the tip goes to the Dasher. In the markets not yet on the new list, it also prints a service-fee example: 15% of the subtotal for most orders, and 5% for most eligible DashPass restaurant orders. That 15% is a DoorDash service fee, not a tip percent.
A compulsory charge is not a tip under federal tax rules, even if the receipt uses the word tip. The IRS explains the difference in Publication 531 and on its tip recordkeeping page: a tip is voluntary, the customer sets the amount (including zero), and the customer generally decides who receives it. An automatic charge fails that test.
What do the pages say about a hard drop?
The Emily Post chart's difficulty language is the pizza line: $2 to $5 depending on the size of the order and the difficulty of the delivery. The October 2 note's large-load language is curbside pickup, where $5 is the figure for a large load or order, and deliveries of groceries or other daily items, or restaurant takeout, where the note says $5 or more. Neither page tells you to move a delivery tip from 15% to 20% for rain, stairs, or distance.
Distance and weather show up on the app pages as fees, not as a required extra tip. Uber Eats says the long-range fee and the priority fee go to couriers, and that a delivery-adjustment fee goes to couriers when you change the address after you order. DoorDash lists a long-distance fee and a weather impact fee among the fees that go to DoorDash. Instacart may charge a long-distance service fee if the route is 15 minutes or more or includes a toll, and a priority fee for a priority window. Those lines are not the tip line on the same pages.
Curbside pickup on the October 2 note is a couple of dollars, or $5 for a large load. The chart's takeout row is no obligation, with 10% for curb delivery or a large, complicated order.
Cash, the app, and taxes
Uber Eats says you can tip in cash when the delivery person arrives, and that 100% of a tip added in the app goes to that person. DoorDash says every dollar of the optional tip goes to the Dasher. If you tip in the app and again in cash, you have tipped twice.
Tips are taxable. IRS Publication 531, written for employees, says all tips are income and that $20 or more in a month from one job must be reported to the employer by the 10th of the next month. The IRS tip page says a company service charge paid out as wages is not a voluntary tip.
The chart and the October 2 note are the Emily Post amounts on this page. The fee table is where DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Instacart say which lines reach the driver.
Worked examples
$42 bill at the chart's 10% and 15%
Ten percent of $42 is $4.20. Fifteen percent is $6.30. The food plus the 15% tip is $48.30. A delivery fee or a service fee on the app receipt is a separate line. The links use the food bill as b.
$18 order next to the October note's $5
Fifteen percent of $18 is $2.70. The October 2 Emily Post note says around 10%, or $5 or more, for deliveries of groceries or other daily items, or restaurant takeout. Five dollars is the dollar figure in that note, not 15% of $18. The link shows the percent so the two amounts can sit side by side.
Compare other rates on the tip percentage table by typing the bill once. The service-by-service table lists delivery next to restaurants and salons.
This is general information from Matt Totty at TipSlice, not tax or employment advice. App pay models change. Read the breakdown on your order, and use the IRS pages linked here for how a tip differs from a service charge.
Sources
- Emily Post Institute, General Tipping Guide — delivery 10–15% of the bill; pizza $2–$5 depending on size and difficulty.
- Emily Post, Everyday Tipping (October 2, 2025) — around 10% or $5 or more for groceries or other daily items, or restaurant takeout; a couple of dollars for curbside, $5 for a large load.
- DoorDash Help, what fees do I pay — listed fees go to DoorDash; 100% of the optional tip goes to the Dasher.
- Uber Eats Help, what fees may apply — fees are not gratuities; which fees go to couriers or merchants.
- Uber Eats Help, additional amounts — tipping is never required; 100% of an in-app tip goes to the delivery person.
- Instacart Help, fees and taxes — the service fee is not a tip and does not go to the shopper; 100% of the tip does.
- IRS Publication 531, Reporting Tip Income — tips are income; the $20 monthly reporting rule for employees; service charges are not tips.
- IRS, Tip recordkeeping and reporting — a payment is a tip only when the customer pays it voluntarily and sets the amount.
More from TipSlice
Restaurant tables, counters, and ordinary takeout are in how much to tip at restaurants. Every guide starts at the guides hub. The calculator linked above is the TipSlice tip calculator, and the math stays in your browser.