Tipping in Singapore

0% — not customary

Three things to know before you go

Reading a Singapore restaurant bill Menu price: S$30.00
+10% service charge: S$3.00
+9% GST (on the S$33.00 subtotal): S$2.97
Final total: S$35.97 — no tip required anywhere in that calculation.

Taxis and rideshare

Fares are metered and exact change is standard. Rounding up to the nearest dollar is sometimes done but is a rounding convenience, not a tipping gesture, and plenty of locals simply take their exact change.

If you still want to show appreciation: for genuinely exceptional, personalised service — a tour guide who went well beyond the job, for instance — a small cash gift is accepted gracefully, but it is a personal gesture rather than any kind of expected practice.

Why Singapore differs from, say, Thailand or the UAE

Singapore's service charge and GST system is set by regulation and applied consistently across almost every licensed restaurant, which is part of why the custom here is so settled compared with neighbouring countries where a service charge may or may not appear, and may or may not reach staff. There is little ambiguity to resolve with an extra tip, because the add-ons on a Singapore bill are standardised and transparent.

Open the calculator →