[ilovetv]

Well now I see this added info about a new IRS ruling that sheds some light on the Darden suggested tip amounts....it appears to be for good reason because of taxation (should we be surprised?):

Many restaurants have long-standing policies for adding an automatic gratuity to the tabs of parties of six or more, but an updated tax rule may change that.

Beginning in January, the Internal Revenue Service will classify automatic gratuities as "service charges" rather than tips because they aren't voluntary. The distinction allows the IRS to treat those gratuities as regular wages subject to payroll tax withholding........

.....To address the longstanding problem of large parties often tipping less for more labor, Darden is experimenting with customer checks that come printed with three suggested tip amounts already calculated.

All bills, regardless of party size, are printed with the calculations for adding a 15, 18 or 20 percent tip to the total. If the new checks are received well by customers and work to prevent servers losing tips on large tabs, automatic gratuity could be eliminated company-wide by year-end, and other restaurants are expected to follow suit."

New IRS rule may end automatic gratuity in restaurants - UPI.com