The total cost of an employee isn't different to the employer in either case. For any X which is the cost of an employee .124X goes to govt. When .062 is sent to govt directly from the employer the govt is effectively hiding .5 of tax liability from the employee.
Gig worker sees the whole .124, which is probably why govt wants more classed as employee.
"the govt is effectively hiding .5 of tax liability from the employee " <--- this. this is the important part.
that extra 6.2% isn't a tax on the employer at all! it is a tax on employment, and it really is part of the employee's taxation (in fact that 2 * 6.2% is a "socialized" part of the employee wage, that fraction of wage goes to the Social Security Administration to be put in a fund used then to pay out retirement pensions). Hiding this fact is the best part of tax: a tax you do not feel is the best kind of tax from the point of view of the tax collector... of course it is the worst kind of tax from the point of view of the taxed entity.
"Gig worker sees the whole .124, which is probably why govt wants more classed as employee." <-- that's right!
however one could argue that everyone should see the whole .124 so that they know better how they are taxed (I'm not saying this level is too high, on the contrary I think it's too low, but what irks me is that it is done under the covers...).
Gig worker sees the whole .124, which is probably why govt wants more classed as employee.
TANSTAAFL