Dear woodbeez,
"'Once a year, they receive W-2s, where it's stated quite clearly precisely how much they paid for these two items for the year, and they know I paid an identical amount.'
"They may know you paid an identical amount but do they understand the money you paid is really their money?"
Well, I tell 'em it is. Whether they understand it or not, they certainly can see what they're paying on their side of payroll taxes.
"'Under the NRST, they will receive a receipt for each taxable purchase, and there will be a gross sales tax amount. There will be nothing to note how much of that went to Social Security.'
"You didn't answer my question 'Is the percentage of a NST going to SS a fixed amount?'. If it is, everyone will know that X% of the retail tax goes to SS."
Whether it is or not, it's not relevant. If many workers will discount what they see in black and white on their W-2, for FICA and Medicare, even more workers than that won't ever even think about the abstraction of some percentage of the NRST going to Social Security, which will be even further removed from thoughts of just how much it all comes to over the course of a year.
It is clearly more hidden with the NRST.
"Employees are concerned with take home pay."
Yes, and I've often have had employees bark about taxes, including their payroll taxes. It is much more tangible, even at only half the amount, then telling folks that some percentage of the NRST will be dedicated to Social Security.
"Totally agree. The SS portion of a NST would be removed. Deduct the total percentage from wages. A NST would be reduced by that amount."
I see it precisely that way, as well.
One of the benefits, if we could get to a privatized Social Security system, would be that folks would only need to pay for their retirement once. Currently, folks see 12.4% of wages, between both sides, go to retirement, disability, and survivor benefits, but it's just woefully insufficient. So folks have IRAs, SEPs, Keoghs, 401(K)s, etc., to make up for that deficiency.
But that's nuts!
Of that 12.4%, easily 11% per year could go directly toward retirement. Any worker who saves 11% per year, throughout their career, for 40 or more years, will retire very, very comfortably. Folks won't need, and most folks won't choose to use that second retirement vehicle.
For many workers, that will represent the ability to use more money for current needs.
sitetest
"They may know you paid an identical amount but do they understand the money you paid is really their money?"Understanding that they only pay half of employer/employee split is still misleading and hides the true cost. Do you also tell your employees, who can see what they pay into their SS account on their W-2's, that they are paying that money into an imaginary account. That's the abstraction. Their money has already been spent. It hasn't been invested on their behalf. Where is the transparency there? A NST exposes SS as a welfare program, for rich and poor alike.Well, I tell 'em it is(. Whether they understand it or not, they certainly can see what they're paying on their side of payroll taxes.