What Mexican law actually says about propina
Profeco, the federal consumer protection agency, states the position directly: a tip cannot be demanded, is voluntary, and cannot be included in the bill without the diner's consent. The same guidance sets out related obligations that shape how you pay: restaurants and bars must display prices clearly including taxes and in national currency, must hand over a receipt at the time of consumption, and may not make entry conditional on a minimum spend.
The second half of the picture is on the employment side. Article 346 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo makes tips part of the wage of workers in hotels, restaurants, bars and similar establishments, and adds that employers may not reserve any part of them or take a share. That is the reason a tip in Mexico is worth giving directly and in a form the worker actually receives.
Restaurants: the number, and the question to ask first
A sit-down restaurant meal in Mexico is normally tipped at around 10 to 15 percent of the bill before you round, with 10 percent read as ordinary and 15 percent as good. This is convention, not a published rate, and it varies with the kind of place: a neighbourhood fonda at lunchtime and a tasting-menu restaurant in Mexico City are not tipped by the same logic.
Before you pay, ask "¿está incluida la propina?" — is the tip included? It takes two seconds and settles the only question that actually matters, because the failure mode for visitors is not tipping too little, it is tipping twice on a bill that already carries a service line.
When the terminal comes to the table
The card terminal in a Mexican restaurant is brought to your table, and the tip is entered on that terminal before the payment is authorised. The server will usually ask "¿cuánto de propina?" or hand you the machine at the tip screen, which can be a percentage list or a free amount field. Take the machine and enter the figure yourself rather than saying a number out loud, so what is charged is what you chose.
Watch two things on that screen: that the base amount matches your bill, and that any percentage buttons are calculated on the pre-tip total. If you would rather tip in cash, say "en efectivo" and enter zero on the terminal. Cash reaches the person more directly and is common even when the meal itself is paid by card.
Baggers, parking attendants and the people between
Several Mexican tipping situations have no equivalent in most visitors' home countries, and each has its own scale. The person who packs your bags at a supermarket checkout is frequently working for tips alone rather than a wage, and a few coins is the norm. A car park attendant who takes your keys, and the informal street parking helper known as a franelero who waves you into a space and watches the car, both expect small change on the way out.
The distinction worth holding on to is between a service performed and a service asserted. A franelero who has genuinely guided you into a tight space and stayed with the car is doing something. Someone who appears as you park, does nothing, and asks for money before you have left the vehicle is applying pressure, and a firm "no, gracias" is a normal answer. Petrol stations in Mexico are attended, and the attendant who fills the tank and cleans the windscreen is tipped small change too.
Hotels, guides and drivers
Hotel and tour tipping in Mexico follows the per-service pattern rather than a percentage. Porters are tipped per bag when they carry luggage to the room, housekeeping is tipped per day rather than in one lump at the end, since the person cleaning the room changes, and the money is best left somewhere unambiguous with a note. Tour guides are tipped at the end of the tour, more for a small private group than for a large coach, and a separate smaller amount usually goes to the driver.
Taxis and ride-hailing work differently again. A street or sitio taxi in Mexico is not conventionally tipped a percentage; rounding the fare up is normal, and a tip is warranted if the driver has handled luggage or waited. Ride-hailing apps prompt for a tip in the app after the trip, and that prompt is genuinely optional.
All-inclusive resorts, where the rules are set by the property
All-inclusive resorts are the one setting where you should check the property's own policy before you decide anything. Some resorts state that gratuities are included and ask guests not to tip; others include them and still see tipping as normal; a few operate no-tipping policies that staff are expected to enforce. The wording is usually in the booking confirmation or on the resort's own site under "gratuities."
Where tipping is accepted at an all-inclusive, the practice is small, frequent and in cash: a few coins or a small note per drink at the bar, per meal for the waiter who looked after your table, and per day for housekeeping. Because a percentage has nothing to attach to when nothing has a price, the percentage logic simply does not apply.
If a service charge has been added
A service charge added to your bill without your agreement is not a tip, and Profeco's position gives you a straightforward line to take. Point at the line, ask whether it is a propina and whether it was authorised, and ask for it to be removed if you did not agree to it. Consumers have the right not to be charged amounts they did not authorise.
If a business refuses, you have a specific route rather than an argument: Profeco takes complaints through its Teléfono del Consumidor on 55 5568 8722 and 800 468 8722, and runs modules at airports. Keep the itemised receipt, which the restaurant was obliged to give you anyway.
Carry the right cash, and stop worrying about the rest
Tipping well in Mexico is mostly a logistics problem. Keep 10 peso coins for baggers, parking and petrol attendants, 20 and 50 peso notes for porters, housekeeping and small services, and enough to cover restaurant tips in cash if you prefer that to the terminal. Break a large note at a supermarket at the start of the day rather than at the moment you need to tip.
This guide describes widely observed conventions and the legal position on whether a tip can be required. It is not a survey of rates and does not attempt a fixed figure for every situation, because Mexican tipping varies by region, by type of establishment and by whether a place mainly serves locals or visitors.