Employees and Hidden Taxes: Hidden Taxes Can Hurt Employees

Hidden taxes hurt employees in more than one way.  I have already spoken briefly about hidden payroll taxes.  As an employee, I believe you also need to know that, from my point of view, you are being taxed twice.  Once on the front end, and again on the back end.   How?  Read on.


Employees also pay the same Hidden Taxes other consumers pay.

As I have stated above, your employer is required to take certain taxes out of your total earnings before letting you take the rest home.  Therefore, it can be said that you are paying those taxes, because they came out of the money you earned.

But you are also paying all the same hidden taxes other consumers pay when you go the store and use the money you’ve earned to buy the stuff you need and want.  Why?  Because the stuff you buy has hidden taxes built into it the same way that the stuff your employer sells has hidden taxes built into the prices charged.

So, you’re paying taxes on the front end when payroll taxes are taken out of your paycheck.  You are also paying taxes again on the back end when you pay hidden taxes as part of the prices you pay for the stuff you buy from stores.

Even if that stuff is food and other basic necessities that has no transparent taxes added, such as is done in Washington State, you are still paying the hidden taxes includes in the prices of those items.

I will comment more on the effect of hidden taxes on prices in part 4 of this series, where I give an example of how “markup” works.  More specifically, I show how the normal business practice of a “markup” causes prices to be raised higher than the amount of the actual Hidden Tax.

But for now, I’m keeping it simpler, because not all employees (consumers) are experienced business owners or managers who understand why businesses use a “markup.”

Thank you for taking time to read and ponder my opinion on this topic.
An Opinion Article by Dave Kemper
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It has been said that: "One definition of insanity is to do the same thing, the same way, over and over and over again, each time expecting to achieve a different result."
Therefore, we must either CHANGE the way we live, or we bind our future to our past as if with CHAINS.
"I do not consider myself to be better than anyone else.  But I do believe in exercising my right to not stay stupid."

David W. Kemper, Author
© Copyright 2014 by David William Kemper.  All right reserved
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