Yup. And if you don't give at least 8% in tips, the wait staff ends up paying tax on tips they didn't receive.
The guy is just being a super duper cheap dickbag.
Move to Germany if you don't want to pay tips.
The minimum we tip is 10%. The better the service the more the tip, though we max out at 20% (except for breakfast because the bill is usually quite small compared to dinner -then we tip more than 20%).