IF you do it in Japan it’s considered rude, but if you don’t do it in America you risk being abused!

To tip or not to tip is a question that can give restaurant diners, with the strongest constitutions, bad indigestion.

And as the cost of living starts to bite, we are tipping less than ever, according to a new survey.

Just over three-fifths of Britons questioned, admit they are tipping less in restaurants this year compared to last; with the majority now claiming to tip less than ten per cent of the bill.

Most people blamed the rise in the price of living - including VAT and inflation rises. A fifth said that they had to tip less due to a change in family or work circumstances.

Mark Pearson, chairman of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk said he wasn’t surprised by the findings.

“Rises in VAT and inflation have made eating out ever more expensive, and with tips unfortunately being discretionary most of the time, they can often be a convenient way of easing the hit to your wallet."

But he added that although tipping is usually optional, some see it as a social custom.

“It can be difficult to face tipping less than you’d ideally like. We would always recommend searching for available discounts and vouchers for restaurants before eating out; they can be a great way of saving the pennies, and easing the effect that inflation has had on your food bill.”

Paula Dack who runs Stainers Shoes Ltd in Poole said: “I still tip the same as I did last year – around ten per cent. But if the service is really bad I won’t tip at all because in my business we pride ourselves on good customer care and I expect the same if I’m eating out.”

In a London hotel I left a ten per cent tip (I once tipped around 20 per cent but only because I’m bad at maths) then discovered that a 12 per cent service charge had automatically been added to my bill which left rather a bitter taste.

And that was here in the UK. International tipping etiquette is a minefield if you’re not au fait with local gratuity customs.

In Japan, tipping is considered the height of bad manners (as is counting your change) and I’ve heard some real horror stories from the States of tourists being spat on by waitresses for refusing to tip even though the service had been awful.

Retired businessman Alan Jones who lives in the New Forest, was once pursued down the street by a waitress because he had forgotten to leave a gratuity.

“I’d just arrived in the US and it totally slipped my mind but she wanted to know if she had done something to offend me!,” he said.

But tipping can also be taken to the extreme. Echo writer Emma Joseph said they once stayed at a hotel in Las Vegas where they were each expected to tip a dollar to a man for telling the cab driver how many people he would be taking and their destination.

“We refused to pay it because we thought it was ridiculous because we could tell the driver ourselves but in the end an American couple in front paid it for us.”