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Outrage after airport self-service checkout asks for 18% tip
(www.the-independent.com)
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this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2026
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I'm speaking primarily for the United States and Canada, where this myth seems to be most prevalent in my experience. I am not confident enough about other places' laws to speak on them. However, many countries have similar rules regarding tax deductible charitable donations.
And unless taxes work wildly different in other countries, the part about it not being of any benefit is still true. They'd have to not claim it as income, and claim it as a tax deductible donation for there to be any net benefit, and that's just plain fraud which anyone can do.
The reason is persists is because no one believes that any company would do this without a reason. Altruism just isn't a realistic motivation for this many publicly traded companies, so what do they get out of it? I don't believe for a second that they aren't somehow making money off of this. Otherwise it would've died out long ago.
Its marketing. It allows them to generate "goodwill," which is an intangible asset that companies actually list on their balance sheets.
They get to crow about "donating to charity" while spending $0 dollars, and the only operational cost is an annoying menu prompt and a separate account at the bank for the donations.
I never said they don't have a reason. Companies get good PR out of it. Which, in itself, can make them money in the long run.