Do you charge automatic gratuity for large tables?

[Missy_PMQ]

Ay, one of the age old questions. Do you charge the tip automatically when the table reaches a certain number of customers? How much percentage and have you had any complaints?

 

[idahopizzaman]

I don’t because I hate getting the tip automatically figured in. It is an automatic tip no matter how bad the service is.

 

[d9phoenix]

They changed the rules this past year (the IRS) here in the US. I do not remember exactly what they did, but once you put an automatic gratuity it is no longer considered a tip by the IRS and considered regular income or some such.

For any interested, quick google search brought this at the top of the list
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way...-count-automatic-gratuities-as-wages-not-tips

edit: put a different link in, first one stopped after the first paragraph

 

[johnmorrison]

we used to charge 18% for parties of 8 or more,we stopped because of the new IRS law,most people were fine with the added tip, but once in a while i’d get chewed out for it . Tips are still good without the added tip…

 

[boatnut]

100% guaranteed for sure way to make me avoid your establishment (even if I’m eating alone). A view also held by anybody I know. That said, I usually tip anywhere from 10 to 20% depending on the service I get. MY CHOICE…

 

[noreason]

Not after the new laws required gratuity to be considered a surcharge and added to the employees check. Too much extra BOH work for no real reward. We have been better off without it in my opinion.

 

[GotRocks]

Never have, never will.
We started as only a catering operation before evolving into a restaurant , we didn’t tack on a mandatory gratuity then either. I think it would have hurt our servers income because most gratuities that we had received were typically over 20% Of course there was a few events where they got stiffed, but we added extra pay on to make up for it.