America’s tipping backlash grows and new laws are following

A 14-second video lit the fuse

On New Year’s Eve 2025, a TikToker named Becca posted a 14-second clip asking a simple question: why did Chick-fil-A want her to tip? The screen showed options for 18% or 20%, and she picked neither.

She captioned the video “I’m not tipping you” and tagged the company directly. The clip pulled in hundreds of thousands of views.

Most commenters backed her up, with many calling tipping culture “insane.”

Chick-fil-A says tips aren’t allowed

Here’s the thing: Chick-fil-A’s corporate policy has long said employees should not accept tips.

The company’s reasoning is that every team member plays a role in the customer’s experience, so singling one person out with a gratuity doesn’t fit. But enforcement is all over the map.

Some franchise locations look the other way if a customer insists, while others hold firm. Airport locations, in particular, have shown up with tip prompts or automatic gratuities built right in.

Most Americans are fed up

It’s not just one viral video. A 2025 Bankrate survey of about 2,400 U.S. adults found 63% hold at least one negative view about tipping.

About 41% said tipping culture has gotten out of control, a six-point jump from the year before. And 38% said pre-set tip screens on payment devices annoy them, up from 34% in 2024.

The frustration has been building for years, but digital payment systems have made tip prompts almost impossible to escape.

Guilt tips are dropping fast

Americans are pushing back with their wallets, too.

A Talker Research survey of 2,000 people found they spent about $283 on pressure-driven tips in 2025, down roughly 38% from about $453 the year before.

The average person tipped out of guilt about four times a month, compared to more than six times a year earlier. Nearly 29% said they rarely or never give in to tipping pressure anymore.

The trend is clear: people are done paying just to avoid an awkward moment.

Digital screens keep turning up the pressure

A 2025 Popmenu study of 1,000 consumers found 65% are fed up with tipping, up from 53% in 2023.

About 66% said they feel pressured when digital payment screens suggest tip amounts, especially with employees watching. On average, people reported getting asked to tip at various businesses about 10 times a month.

And 44% said they tip at least once a week at places where they don’t think it’s deserved. The screens have turned tipping into a constant question.

Self-checkout kiosks ask for tips too

Tip prompts have spread to self-checkout kiosks at airports, stadiums, and cafes where customers never interact with an employee.

One traveler at Newark Liberty International Airport said a self-serve kiosk asked for a 10% to 20% tip on a $6 bottle of water and called it “emotional blackmail,” according to a Wall Street Journal report.

A Lehigh University professor warned that federal tipping protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act don’t cover machines, so there’s no guarantee those tips actually reach workers.

Table service still earns the biggest tips

The numbers back up what most people feel. According to Toast data, 79% of customers will tip a server who visits their table.

But that number falls off a cliff from there. Only 17% will tip when placing an order at a counter, and just 12% will tip at a drive-thru.

Self-checkout kiosks? Only 11%.

The pattern is simple: the less personal the service, the less willing people are to leave anything extra.

A California bakery learned a tough lesson

In early 2026, Quail and Condor, a popular bakery in Healdsburg, Calif., caught heat after its owners asked their roughly 17,000 Instagram followers to tip more.

The post explained that the tip pool had dropped since the business moved to a bigger location.

Critics fired back, arguing counter service doesn’t call for a tip and that the bakery should pay workers a living wage instead.

The episode showed how fast tipping debates can blow up for small businesses that rely on gratuities to fill pay gaps.

Delivery apps quietly pushed tips down

Not all tipping problems come from asking too often. Some come from companies, making it harder to tip at all.

A New York City government report found that DoorDash and Uber Eats redesigned their apps after a 2023 minimum wage law for delivery workers, moving the tip option to after checkout.

The average tip on those apps fell to 76 cents per delivery, compared to about $2.17 on apps that kept the tip prompt at checkout.

The city estimated those changes cost delivery workers more than $550 million in lost tips.

New York City passed a law to fix it

On Jan. 26, 2026, a New York City law kicked in that forces delivery apps to show a tip option at checkout, with a suggested minimum of 10%.

DoorDash and Uber sued to block the law, arguing it violated their free speech rights and would cause sticker shock. A federal judge denied their request.

The city also expanded minimum pay protections for delivery workers to about $21.44 per hour, not counting tips.

Federal law now shields tips from taxes

The No Tax on Tips Act became federal law on July 4, 2025, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Workers in traditionally tipped jobs can now deduct up to $25,000 in tip income from their federal taxes.

The deduction covers tax years 2025 through 2028 and phases out for single filers earning above $150,000 and joint filers above $300,000. Workers can claim it on their 2025 returns filed in early 2026.

Payroll taxes and state and local taxes may still apply.

Tipping isn’t dying but it’s changing

About 41% of Americans say businesses should pay workers better instead of leaning on tips, according to Bankrate. But only 16% said they’d accept higher prices if tipping went away.

Older Americans tip more often but also hold more negative views about tipping culture.

Over 80% of Gen Xers and boomers always tip at sit-down restaurants, compared to 43% of Gen Z. Tipping has mostly leveled off after years of post-pandemic decline.

The practice isn’t vanishing, but where and how much people tip keeps shifting.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• Tipping burnout is real: 65% of Americans say they’re fed up
• 9 in 10 Americans say tipping culture is out of control, and the backlash is growing
• Those annoying tip screens? They’re actually making Americans tip less