It is quite common to round up the bill for convenience, e.g paying EUR 20 for EUR 18.60 taxi ride. That's appropriate and fine.

Sorry for not getting your point.. guess my brain was working a bit slow last night.
My point was: When I ask someone in a pub in Dublin not to give me some coins in return, it's only for the purpose that I already have a ton of coins in my wallet. I would not consider myself "tipping" 20 cents, just having no interest in more coins.

If you really don't want coins, most bars will have a charity box where you can leave the unwanted small change.

Irish people are not renowned to be big tippers. I've never seen anyone tip a barman though maybe it happens in places where the majority of the customers are American tourists. Prices in the pubs are high enough as it is.

You will also find "tap" machines built into the credit/debit machines in most shops/bars/taxis. I have no idea if your cards have this technology, but for a lot of us Europeans we basically don't use cash, we just swipe or tap the machine and the money goes out of our debit account. So giving a tip is actually a more difficult process for expenditure under E30. NB some of the writers here are German who naturally prefer using currency compared to the rest of us.

I'm more qualified than most here to advise, because I'm Irish and living in Ireland.

- Taxis: I don't tip; sometimes the taxi driver might round down a fare - where the meter shows 15.50 and he says 15.00 will do. Drivers doing airport runs have some hopes of getting a tip, but I would restrict it to a euro or two, and only if they helped with bags.
- Restaurants: Generally not more than 10%, and whatever makes for convenient rounding (e.g. 92.00 becomes 100.00; 88.00 does not).
- Bars: I never tip the barman/maid. I might give the lounge boy/girl a modest amount (say 50c) for table service.

Speaking generally around these tipping threads, in Ireland and the UK, there is much less commonality in how tipping is done. So asking what is "normally done" is not such a straightforward question and the variations are great. A very significant number of people in the UK and Ireland do not tip in restaurants at all. Many do the "round up" system and many do 10-15%. Many restaurants now will collect 12.5% (or so) automatically. Sometimes "service charges" don't even go to the staff or at least not all of it.

Keep in mind that including service in the cost of food and paying a "living wage" (whatever that really means) is less tax efficient as the whole amount - food including the service - will attract VAT (e.g. 20% in France). It's probably the same with sales tax in the US but obviously European VAT can be triple or more US state tax rates. The long established American food service wages/tipping system avoids sales tax on the tip (service part of the "price") which is not the case if menu prices were raised to include service costs in the price and servers were paid this mythical "living wage". A typical American restaurant will collect $100s or 1000s of dollars that is free of sales tax because it's collected as tips to staff rather than collected in menu costs and then distributed to servers earning a "living wage".

I also believe that a lot of tip income is also under-reported for income tax purposes so the American tipping system is overall very "tax friendly". Paying servers through traditional income rather than tipping avoids a lot of tax fraud. By the way, automatically collected service charges are not subject to VAT as long as it's clear that they are "optional" but if you include service in the menu price as done in many European countries and it will be subject to VAT.

I'm fine with not tipping when tipping is not the custom. It's giving someone 20 cents with a "keep the change" that seems strange.

You’re right Suze. It doesn’t make cents.

I don't know what's so hard to understand. Maybe you think that it's always some grandiose gesture like "BABY...KEEP THE CHANGE" wink...wink. Well I think in American culture, "keep the change" has a certain connotation. In fact, a grandiose "keep the change" with a few cents being the change is a common, cheap punchline in bad TV and movies. Queue up the laugh track.
In Europe, the equivalent of "keep the change" is totally different. You kind of give the money and put up your hand and pull away. Or just pay and pull away. Not some grandiose gesture that implies you're giving life changing money to the lucky recipient. It's just natural. No grandiose gesture. Nothing 'strange'. All over Europe, it just works naturally this way,. Nothing strange at all.

That's true enough... if someone says "keep the change" to a waiter after dinner at a restaurant in the US it would imply there was an actual tip involved, not twenty cents. But even in Mexico when I say "esta bien" there's some actual money being given for service, more than a few pesos.

and yes i GET that it's different in Ireland but why say anything was all that I was puzzled over?

Tipping is personal and we have heard, before, how "the Americans" were "ruining Ireland" with their big tips. This is one reason why I am glad that tipping is personal and will hopefully remain that way.

Ah, but in for a penny, in for a pound.

@ mimda6: I fear your question got lost in the midst of all the back-and-forth. Did you get the answer you need? You asked a perfectly legitimate question -- and one that shows sensitivity to local norms. Kudos! Please ignore those who jumped in to offer completely unhelpful and non-responsive comments.

It's simple. In Europe, it doesn't matter if you say "keep the change" or not, nor does it matter if you say "keep the change" loudly and proudly or mumble it modestly, or if you just make a subtle hand gesture, or just walk away without taking your change. Nobody will think that "keep the change" implies anything more than what you're literally saying. It doesn't matter if your change is €2 or 0.20. What it might imply in the US has nothing to do with Europe. So there is no reason to avoid saying it if your change is €0.20, nor is there any reason to say it other than to apply clarity in your transaction. It simply doesn't matter as it has no hidden meanings, connotations, implications, insinuations, undertones or overtones. It just means "keep the change" or "I don't want my change back".

You say that you GET that it's different in Europe yet you continue to try to apply US perspective to a situation in Europe. Not being argumentative it's just that your position doesn't make much sense. I don't know the norms for this in Mexico but what YOU personally say or don't say in Mexico is not support for your position on this.

Whew.....I guess that this is a sensitive subject to many people. Thank you, @kja, for following up on my inquiry. I welcomed the response from @Padraig.....an Irishman living in Ireland....and will respect the tipping customs while visiting. Off to see Dublin during this holiday season!

Walkinaorund

i agree with everything you have posted.

In my experience ie North England and Scotland, with the advance of the Nat. Min wage, less and less restaurants have the cheek to put the option “how much do you want to tip?” on their credit card terminals. In Scotland, I just don’t see it at all.

My only question, is how do some restaurants have the bare faced to charge service charges?

i once stayed at a an upmarket B & B in Charleston, ie free breakfast. They gave my a slip at the end of the free breakfast which simply said “please sign for the tip”. 20% of nothing was quite generous for me.

The final bill for the stay had a space for tip with the words “ suggested 20%” at the side.

what YOU personally say or don't say in Mexico is not support for your position on this.

I don't have a "position on this".

... just thought it odd to say anything anywhere when you are leaving twenty cents behind.

I’m terrified to post anything. But in my teeny Canadian neighbourhood I would not say “keep the 0.20 cent change” as (in my teeny neighbourhood only) it could be interpreted as Mr. Big Shot saying here is a tip for you, little nobody. So I don’t say anything.

I find both the leftover change situation and posting about the leftover change situation very intimidating.

If I want another Guinness you bet I will take care of my bartender. I know I didn't take my change last Ireland trip right away and it was taken quickly back by a bartender. I was leaving it to add more for the next drink. My nephew in law bartended in Temple bar and he said yes to the tips. They are appreciated. You just do what you want.

Oh yes, they do! In Portugal/Spain we can live as wealthy people with our pension, whereas in Belgium we have to add from our savings account. And in Scandinavia our money would only last for half a month.