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Quick, get them a law prof or economist before they embarrass themselves further

On the New York City subway today, I saw the following ad:

"Freelancers pay twice the Social Security tax that traditional workers do. And yet, we don't feel any more secure. Weird."

Followed by a plea to go the website of the Freelancers Union, which is "working to make freelance fair."

Somebody give these guys an F, as in "fuddled." The so-called double tax creates neutrality rather than bias as between freelancers and employees, given the employer share of the payroll tax. Indeed, it's even adjusted to take account of excluding the employer share from the payroll tax base.

If it makes the Freelancers Union feel any better, they can tell themselves that, when they pay that double Social Security tax, they are actually wearing their self-employed employer hats for half of it.

Gilbert and Sullivan's Lord Poobah would understand. "Let's go over there where the Lord Chief Justice [or one of his other multiple titles] can't hear us."

Full post as published by Start Making Sense on November 09, 2009 (boomark / email).