USA: Laws, lawsuits, tax benefits – this is how America argues about tipping

New York. In the Monkey Cup, the analogue is part of the concept: the small café north of Central Park in New York does not offer its guests a WiFi network. Instead, books stand on the branches of a shelf that grows like a tree over the wall. “Read a book, get to know someone,” advises a sign behind the counter.

The latte is also handmade. The baristas use cocoa powder to draw the head of a monkey on the foam - based on the name of the café. Anyone who stops here gets a break from the screen with coffee.

But the break ends at the checkout. There a tablet turns towards the guest. Three large fields light up in the middle: one dollar, three dollars, five dollars. Measured against the Spanish Latte, the house classic for $6.75, the suggestions range from just under 15 to 74 percent. “No tip”, i.e. the option not to give a tip, is also there. Smaller. Here, the guest decides whether to thank someone not with small change, but with his index finger – right in front of the staff.

Tipping has long been a given in America. Now it is a political issue. New York is now forcing delivery apps by law to ask their customers for tips when paying. The service companies Uber and Doordash are suing. President Donald Trump has given tax breaks to tips. And customers are increasingly struggling with screens that are asking for more and more in more and more places.

“Consumers are feeling the social pressure of these demands and feel they have gotten out of hand,” says Michael Lynn, a consumer researcher at Cornell University who has published numerous studies on tipping. The many requests “haven’t had enough effect to change the tipping norms,” says Lynn.

The guests rehearse the rebellion, quietly and with their index fingers. Because behind every button there is a question of power: Who pays the wages: the employer or the guest? The answer to this varies depending on the location. The dispute is being fought at the checkout, in restaurants, in politics - and in Germany, where card terminals are now asking the same question.