A tip in Britain is not expected the way it is in some countries. VisitBritain says staff must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage, and that you can decline an optional service charge. If nothing was added and the service was good, 10% to 15% is well received.
Is a service charge mandatory in the UK?
Not when the bill presents it as optional. HM Revenue & Customs, in guidance E24, says a service charge is an amount added to the bill before it is presented. It is a voluntary service charge if it is made clear that the amount is purely discretionary and there is no obligation to pay. HMRC accepts that presentation when the literature the customer sees matches what staff say. A charge that is not purely discretionary, where there is an obligation to pay, is a mandatory service charge.
VisitBritain uses the diner's version of the voluntary case: an optional service charge is sometimes added, it is noted on the bill, and you can choose whether to pay it. Visit London says you can ask for a service charge to be removed if you are unhappy with the service, and that tipping is not mandatory. Those visitor pages do not replace E24. If the bill does not say the charge is optional, E24's mandatory category is the one that fits, and this page will not relabel it.
E24 also separates the tax treatment. Tips are outside the scope of VAT when genuinely given freely. A restaurant service charge that customers are required to pay is part of the price of the meal and is standard-rated for VAT. A charge the customer has a genuine option to pay is not, in HMRC's words, consideration for the meal, even if it appears on the invoice. That is a tax classification. It is not a suggested tip percent. E24 does not print one.
What does the tips code require?
The code of practice on fair and transparent distribution of tips says it applies to England, Scotland and Wales, and that the code and specified provisions came into effect on 1 October 2024. It was issued under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023. Its purpose is the fair and transparent allocation of tips, gratuities and service charges, including both automatically added and other voluntary service charges. The code calls all of those "tips" for short.
The code restates what employers must do. They pass qualifying tips and service charges to workers without deductions, except in very limited scenarios such as deduction of income tax. When the employer controls or significantly influences the distribution, it has to be fair and transparent, and the employer must have regard to the code. Where tips are paid at a place of business on more than an occasional and exceptional basis, there must be a written policy, available to workers, in plain language. Allocation records are kept for three years from the date the tip was paid, and workers can request access. Distribution is due, at the latest, by the end of the month following the month the customer paid. The code's example is a tip left on 23 June, which must be distributed by 31 July.
How the money arrives does not decide whether it is qualifying. A card payment, an app, or a QR code that the employer receives is an employer-received tip. A cash tip the worker keeps, with no employer control, is outside the Act and the code. The Act applies to workers, including eligible agency workers. It does not apply to self-employed people. Employers must have regard to the code. The foreword says failure to observe it fully is not, by itself, proof that an employer acted unfairly. This page is not employment advice. The code is the document a workplace dispute uses.
The code page does not say it applies in Northern Ireland. This guide does not invent a Northern Ireland tipping statute to fill that gap. VisitBritain's visitor note on whether to tip is written for Britain and is the tourism sentence used below.
How much do the tourism pages say to leave?
VisitBritain and Visit London are both official visitor sites. They do not print the same taxi percent. The table uses their words, not an average.
| Situation | VisitBritain | Visit London |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant, nothing extra on the bill | 10% to 15% is well received if you are happy with the service | 10% to 15% of the bill |
| Restaurant service charge already printed | Optional charges are noted on the bill, and you can choose whether to pay | Often already included. The page says a service charge is usually 12.5%, and that no extra tip is needed. You can ask for the charge to be removed |
| Taxi | Customary to round up to the nearest pound. A 10% to 15% tip is a nice gesture if you choose to tip | The summary says round up or about 5% to 10%. The taxi section says 10% to 15% is polite, and that most people round up to the nearest pound |
| Hotel porter | About £2 if a porter takes luggage to the room | £1 to £2 per bag, and the page calls it optional |
| Pub or bar | The useful-information page does not give a separate pub percent | Not expected |
The 12.5% figure is Visit London's, in the sentence about a charge restaurants often add. E24 does not state 12.5%, and neither does VisitBritain. Do not treat 12.5% as the legal service rate. Read the line that was actually printed.
Visit London's taxi lines are the claim this page will not merge. One table on that page says round up or 5% to 10%. A later section says it is polite to tip 10% to 15%, and that most people round to the nearest pound. VisitBritain's single taxi sentence is the round-up, with 10% to 15% as a gesture if you are choosing to tip. Travel Tipper does not fill a taxi percent. It leaves the tip field at 0% so you can type the figure that matches the bill in front of you.
VisitBritain also says a room-service tip is at your discretion, and that about 10% is appreciated if you are in doubt. Visit London says cafe tipping is optional, fast food and takeaway are not customary, and housekeeping or a tour guide is optional with ranges on its own table. Those hotel and tour amounts are on the Visit London page. They are not repeated here as a second, unsourced list.
Do tips count toward the minimum wage?
No, for pay periods that start on or after 1 October 2009. E24 says the right to the National Minimum Wage is statutory, and that tips, gratuities, service charges, or cover charges paid by customers do not count toward National Minimum Wage pay when the employer pays them to the worker. VisitBritain's line that staff must be paid at least the minimum and do not have to live on tips is the visitor-facing version of that rule. It is a different structure from the U.S. federal tip credit in the restaurant guide.
What does Travel Tipper do for London?
London, Manchester, and Edinburgh share one country note. The status is optional, and the tip field starts at 0%, because VisitBritain says a tip is not necessary. Type 10 or 15 only after you have checked the bill for a service charge you are choosing to pay or decline. A £48 dinner for two with nothing added, left at 0%, is London, £48, two people, 0%. The same bill at the bottom of VisitBritain's "well received" range is £48 at 10%, which is £4.80. The currency on those links is pounds. A home-currency line, if you ask for one, uses the same mid-market table as the currency converter and is not your card's posted charge.
A U.S. 15% to 20% sit-down habit is a different setting. The comparison chart is tipping when traveling. If the check and these pages disagree, pay the check.
UK tipping FAQ
Is a service charge mandatory in the UK?
HMRC says a service charge is voluntary when it is clearly presented as entirely optional and there is no obligation to pay. It is mandatory when there is an obligation to pay. VisitBritain says an optional restaurant service charge is something you can choose not to pay.
What does the tips code change?
The code of practice on fair and transparent distribution of tips applies to England, Scotland and Wales and came into effect on 1 October 2024. Employers must pass qualifying tips and service charges to workers, keep a written policy where tips are more than occasional, and keep allocation records for three years.
How much does VisitBritain say to leave?
If nothing was added and you are happy with restaurant service, VisitBritain says 10% to 15% is well received. For a taxi it is customary to round the fare up to the nearest pound, and 10% to 15% is a nice gesture if you choose to tip. Visit London's taxi lines do not all use the same percent.
Sources
- VisitBritain, useful information — tipping is not expected as it is in some countries; optional service charge; 10% to 15% when you choose to tip.
- HMRC, E24 — voluntary versus mandatory service charges, VAT, and National Minimum Wage.
- Code of practice on fair and transparent distribution of tips — England, Scotland and Wales, in effect 1 October 2024.
- Visit London, tipping — visitor ranges, including a usual 12.5% service charge and two different taxi lines.
Related: Travel Tipper for London, the service-charge checker, and the guides hub.