tipping

If you're unsure of when and how much to tip, our partner Business Insider has the deets so you'll never have to worry about shortchanging someone again.

According to the rest of the world, Americans (more specifically, New Yorkers) are the most generous tippers out there.

RELATED: Manhattan Sushi Restaurant Bans Customers From Tipping

But even within the U.S., tipping etiquette changes in just about every region. It may be customary to leave an extra 20% for your waiter in Manhattan, but a waiter in Atlanta may be thrilled to get 15%. To help, here's a complete guide to gratuity etiquette, courtesy of Mint.com.

Brush up on your math and the next time you hire a mover or order room service, you and your wallet will be prepared.

Read on to see the tipping guide.

Not only are the holidays a season for gift giving, but also tipping. The end of the year is always a good time to show someone you appreciate their service. But the question that always arises in everyone's mind is just how much should you be tipping? We have Consumer Reports to turn to for answers. Here's what everyone is tipping, according to their survey results:

• House cleaner: $50 was the median value of tips given to house cleaners. In the survey, 53 percent gave monetary tips, while 15 percent gave actual gifts. Only 36 percent of people did not tip their house cleaners.
• Lawn-care crew: $25 was the median value of tips given to lawn-care crews. In the survey, 21 percent gave monetary tips, while four percent gave actual gifts. About 75 percent of people did not tip their lawn-care crew.
• Garbage collector: $20 was the median value of tips given to garbage collectors. In the survey, seven percent gave monetary tips, while three percent gave actual gifts. About 90 percent of people did not tip their garbage collector.
• Teacher: $20 was the median value of tips given to teachers. In the survey, 16 percent gave monetary tips, while 35 percent gave actual gifts. About 53 percent of people did not tip teachers.
• Hairdresser: $20 was the median value of tips given to hairdressers. In the survey, 38 percent gave monetary tips, while nine percent gave actual gifts. About 54 percent of people did not tip their hairdresser.

Read on for more.

Tipping is a custom that allows you to express appreciation for a job well done. But when it comes to salon, spa, and nail services, it can be hard to decide who and how much to tip — especially on a color job gone wrong. And while tipping is at your discretion, here are a few suggestions on amounts to give in a variety of circumstances. See the guidelines when you read more.

Tipping in general can be tricky. Tipping when traveling? Even more complicated. Kiplinger breaks down the proper way to tip on a trip.

Relax — you’re on vacation. Use these six tips to establish a tipping plan that eliminates stress and faux-pas.

1. Include gratuities in your vacation budget. As you estimate how much to save for your next trip, be sure you figure in all of the tips you'll be expected to leave along the way. "Preparing takes away those awkward moments of not being sure who, when and how much to tip, so you can just enjoy your trip from beginning to end," says Diane Gottsman, national etiquette expert and owner of the Protocol School of Texas.

2. Tip the right people. Certain service providers in the U.S. rely on tips for the majority of their income. "Going against the grain and leaving less than what is normally an accepted tip can really hurt that person," says Peter Post, author of Essential Manners for Men (and great-grandson of Emily Post herself).

One service provider you'll certainly want to thank with a tip is the hotel housekeeper. And because different people may be cleaning up after you each day, you'll have to express your monetary appreciation daily. Each morning before you go out for the day, leave $2 to $5 with a thank-you note or in an envelope labeled "housekeeping," so it's clear that the cash is meant for them.

Other people you might tip as you travel: the skycap, shuttle driver, concierge and hotel valet.

Read on for more.

If you're in the service industry, a big chunk of your income may come from tips. But don't think you can get away with not filing taxes for them. Here are a couple of tips from the IRS:

• Tips are taxed. Your tips will face federal income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes. You will also be taxed on nonmonetary tips like tickets, and gifts will be counted as income.
• Include them on your tax return. Include your cash tips, tips added to credit card bills, and tips you split with co-workers when reporting gross income on your tax return. "Report your tips with your wages on Form 1040, line 7; Form 1040A, line 7; Form 1040EZ, line 1; Form 1040NR, line 8; or Form 1040NR-EZ, line 3."
• Report to your employer. If you earn more than $20 in tips, you need to report this income to your boss. Your employer is required to withhold federal income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes. You don't have to report nonmonetary tips to your boss. If you don't report these tips to your employer, you will face a penalty.
• Record your tips. Be organized and record your tip income. You can use Form 4070A, Employee's Daily Record of Tips, to record your tip income. To get the form, ask your employer or the IRS for Publication 1244, Employee's Daily Record of Tips and Report to Employer. Publication 1244 includes a year's supply of Form 4070A. Record nonmonetary tips separately and include that on your tax return. You can even keep a tip diary electronically by requesting access to an electronic system provided by your employer.
• Watch the deadline. Turn in your monthly tip records with your employer by the 10th of the next month.
• Don't include mandatory service charges: don't note down mandatory service charges in your tip diary as these are considered part of your wages, not tips.

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

But before you rest on your laurels, let’s tackle one of the trickier holiday practices: end-of-year tipping for the service people who regularly help you.

They help you when you’re struggling to get a package in the door. They fix your leaky faucet before it becomes a flood. They brave rain and snow to get you your mail every day.

All around us, there are real-life angels — our manicurist, doorman, superintendent and more — who make our lives easier just by doing their jobs with care and pride.

So, at the end of the year, we want to thank them for their great service. And the best way to do that is to give them an end-of-year gift, which can be an actual present or a cash tip.

But if you were to indiscriminately tip all the service people in your life, you could easily end up in the red. It might sound easy enough to keep an informal running tally of how much you’ll tip each person, but that type of mental accounting can be bad for your budget. Here’s why.

Before You Start Stuffing Envelopes . . .

Here a few helpful guidelines you can use in deciding who to tip and how much.

First, weigh the quality of service. This means that you should prioritize those who have provided you exceptional service this year, like the super who dug you out after the surprise blizzard.

Read on for more.

To tip or not to tip, that is the question everyone is thinking about during this holiday season. Although we're emerging from the recession, the economy is still not a pretty picture. So how much should we tip others when we're carefully watching our purse strings? Here are some rules you should follow:

• Tip what you can afford. If you can't afford to tip, think about alternatives such as homemade gifts or baked goods to show your appreciate.
• See tip sheets. Unsure of how much to give? Check out online tip sheets. Consumer Reports has a brief list of tipping practices cobbled together from results of a holiday tipping survey.
• Who to tip. When thinking about who you should tip, you need to consider a couple factors — how much you interact with people, how long you've known them, and the quality of the service they provide.
• Check company policies. Even if you want to tip someone, you may not be able to because of company policies. Make sure you check with the firm about gift giving or tipping rules to see what's appropriate to give during this time. If it isn't allowed, be sure to just express your heartfelt thanks verbally.
• Add a note. Whether you're tipping or gifting, EmilyPost.com recommends to add a handwritten note of appreciation. Two to three sentences will suffice.

The holidays are a great time to acknowledge people's efforts and show gratitude so don't shy away from the opportunity to do so! Who do you usually tip during the holidays and how much do you tip?

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

1. Give the traditional way. PayPal? Forget it. An end-of-the-year tip should be handed over in person. Tuck the money (crisp, new bills are a plus) into a card with a handwritten note expressing your appreciation. If you can’t do it face-to-face — in the case of, say, the newspaper deliverer who passes by at 4 a.m. — mail a check or gift card, says Jodi R.R. Smith, president of etiquette consultant Mannersmith. And don’t wait until the final weeks of December — the recipients may be depending on the money to buy holiday gifts. The optimum time for end-of-year tipping is the week before Thanksgiving or shortly thereafter.

2. Make a list. The people who make your life easier should be at the top of your list. They may include your nanny or caregiver, hairstylist, fitness instructor, housekeeper, dog walker, garbage collector, and, if you live in a condominium or apartment, handyman or concierge. For a nanny, a week’s pay is appropriate. The cost of one session is a good benchmark for many others on your list, such as a pet groomer, weekend babysitter or weekly cleaning person. Consult our tip sheet; you can also find a guide at the website of the Emily Post Institute.

3. And check it twice. Take into account your relationship with the provider. If you have worked together closely or for a long time, or if you’ve received outstanding serv­ice throughout the year, you might tip at the higher end of the scale. The local cost of living matters, too; $50 goes further in the Midwest than in Manhattan.

Read on for more tips.

If you're like me, you tend to tip more when a waitress has been especially charming and efficient, or none at all when you experience really bad attitude from a cabbie. That's because tipping rewards and promotes good service, right? Think again. Studies show that people still tip when they receive bad service and the amount people give doesn't vary drastically with how satisfied they were with the service, according to SmartMoney.

We're not setting up a very good reward system if we're not following through with tipping more to those who deserve it, which means people don't really have any incentive to provide better service. Giving a little extra when you think a hotel staff member was extremely courteous is probably more tied to being obligated to social norms, rather than encouraging better service.

Tipping also has an emotional factor as well — it can relieve your anger when you feel that you've received horrible treatment or make you feel good when you reward good behavior. Makes you think twice about tipping, doesn't it?