If Senator Inhofe is Right...

[heironymouspasparagus]

It's still an additional deduction from your cash flow any way you slice it.  If you have a higher tax, it's an additional business cost and to maintain the 8 to 10% margin in your example, you must adjust your pricing to your customers to maintain that.  Granted, the smaller the workforce, the lower your u/e taxes.  And there is your "gotcha!".  Yes, taxes, if not a disincentive to hire, are certainly a major consideration in planning and managing workforce and payroll.

That said, this is not a gratuitous tax increase.  This is an insurance fund which operates in a similar fashion to a home owners or auto insurance pool.  What happens when a hail storm damages 50% of all the properties in a 10 square mile area?  All those homeowners, even the ones without claims will wind up paying higher premiums to help offset the losses the insurance company paid out.  Generally those with a claim will get a higher percentage hike than those who didn't file a claim.  Pretty much what is going on here with the u/e taxes which technically are not a tax but a premium.

And finally, I don't know of any corporation or small business which boasts about their contribution of payroll or u/e taxes being a part of a compensation package.  Have you really seen that?

Exactly!  It is insurance!

Every company I have ever worked for has pulled out the total compensation package discussion.  Yours doesn't??  And they all say it includes everything, such as paycheck, insurance, disability (when available), social security, and yes, U/E, vacation - everything.  Many places will discuss the total hourly cost per employee that is used when analyzing the business.  Most technical/managerial's end up at some number like $75 to 100 per hour cost basis.  Hourly may be $30 to 50 per hour.  That is to try to bundle up everything as a ballpark number (building, utilities, etc) for loose cost of business approximation.  You don't have that??

[Conan71]

Exactly!  It is insurance!

Every company I have ever worked for has pulled out the total compensation package discussion.  Yours doesn't??  And they all say it includes everything, such as paycheck, insurance, disability (when available), social security, and yes, U/E, vacation - everything.  Many places will discuss the total hourly cost per employee that is used when analyzing the business.  Most technical/managerial's end up at some number like $75 to 100 per hour cost basis.  Hourly may be $30 to 50 per hour.  That is to try to bundle up everything as a ballpark number (building, utilities, etc) for loose cost of business approximation.  You don't have that??

Nope.  I've worked for a couple of large conglomerates as well as some small businesses and their share of my payroll taxes have never entered the discussion, that's just a given that they pay those, but it's not advertised as a way to inflate, for example, a $70,000 per year job into a $90K/year job.  And why would they come up with a loose cost of business approximation in the recruiting process?  My experience has been:

Base salary
Bonuses or commission
Phone/computer/car allowance or provided equipment
Vacay/sick/PTO days
Insurance package and their contribution

Anyone else care to chime in?

[TeeDub]

Not to count pennies, but the increase was hardly significant (in the real world.)

ANNUAL cost went up anywhere from $40 ~ $900 per employee and the tax rates are based on an employer's experience rating, which assesses how often people file for benefits.


I hate taxes as much as everyone else, but such is the cost of having a social safety net.   If you want to tell unemployed people they need to sell their house and go hungry, you are more than welcome.

[Conan71]

Not to count pennies, but the increase was hardly significant (in the real world.)

ANNUAL cost went up anywhere from $40 ~ $900 per employee and the tax rates are based on an employer's experience rating, which assesses how often people file for benefits.


I hate taxes as much as everyone else, but such is the cost of having a social safety net.   If you want to tell unemployed people they need to sell their house and go hungry, you are more than welcome.

I think the article said it could go up to nearly $1800 per employee for really high claims experience.  If that's the case, those companies might not be long for the world anyhow 

[TeeDub]

I think the article said it could go up to nearly $1800 per employee for really high claims experience.  If that's the case, those companies might not be long for the world anyhow 

"Others' rates will rise to an estimated $1,711.20 per employee from $819.50 per employee. "


They were already paying over $800 annually...   So the increase is ~ $900.

[Conan71]

"Others' rates will rise to an estimated $1,711.20 per employee from $819.50 per employee. "


They were already paying over $800 annually...   So the increase is ~ $900.

Sorry, my reading comprehension glasses were left at home this morning, TeeDub.