Editing Gratuity (section)

==== Germany ====
[[File:23c3 by taw cloakroom 1.jpg|thumb|220px|Coat check staff are usually tipped for their service and this photo shows a coat-check area at the Berliner Congress Centrum (BCC) in Alexanderplatz, Berlin, Germany.]]
Tipping (''Trinkgeld'') is not seen as obligatory. In the case of waiting staff, and in the context of a debate about a minimum wage, some people disapprove of tipping and say that it should not substitute for employers paying a good basic wage. But most people in Germany consider tipping to be good manners as well as a way to express gratitude for good service.

It is illegal, and rare, to charge a service fee without the customer's consent. However, a tip of about 5% to 10%, depending on the type of service, is customary. For example, Germans usually tip their waiters. As a rule of thumb, the more personal the service, the more common it is to tip. Payments by card may also include the tip, but the tip is usually paid in cash when the card is handed over.

At times, rather than tipping individually, a tipping box is set up. Rounding up the bill in Germany is commonplace, sometimes with the comment ''stimmt so'' ("keep the change"),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://traveltips.usatoday.com/restaurant-tipping-germany-59081.html|title=Restaurant Tipping in Germany|work=[[USA Today]]|last=Hill|first=Danielle|access-date=July 21, 2017|archive-date=December 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205100845/https://traveltips.usatoday.com/restaurant-tipping-germany-59081.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> rather than asking for all the change and leaving the tip afterwards. Or the customer says how much he will pay in total, including the tip: thus if the basic price is €10.50, the customer might, rather generously but not unusually, say ''zwölf'' ("twelve"), pay with a €20 note and get €8 in change. When paying a small amount, it is common to round up to the nearest euro (e.g. €1.80 to €2.00).

Sometimes a sign reading ''Aufrunden bitte''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deutschland-rundet-auf.de/|title=DEUTSCHLAND RUNDET AUF|website=Deutschland rundet auf}}</ref> ("round up please") is found in places where tipping is not common (like supermarkets, or clothing retailers). This requests that the bill be rounded up to the nearest €0.10. This is not to tip the staff, but a charity donation (fighting child poverty), and completely voluntary.

In Germany, tips are considered as income, but they are tax free according to § 3 Nr. 51 of the German Income Tax Law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__3.html|title=§ 3 EStG - Einzelnorm|website=www.gesetze-im-internet.de}}</ref>