Only assuming that the employees don't end up with it.
Accounting costs above that required to run the business.
No change, you still have to track wages, accounts payable, accounts receivable, benefits, etc.
Benefit programs to help employees avoid taxes.
No change unless you going to mandate eliminating employee benefits for some reason. Why would you do that?
Lost opportunity costs.
No change. Marginal cost is zero for a small business.
Higher interest rates.
Really? How is the NRST going to change interest rates? And why would any marginal reduction in business interest rates be passed on to customers?
And so on.
And so on. You keep setting them up and I'll keep knocking them down.
Which is more likely (taking a page out of The Dilbert Principle): 1) companies will take this current cost and give it to the employees, or 2) employers use the savings to increase market share. The answer of course, is #2 -- especially since if any of their competitors do so, they must also to stay competitive.
Even so, it's really fungible. In the snowball's-chance-in-hell that the employees get it, then they have more money in their pockets and will be able to afford more for the same amount of time worked.
No change, you still have to track wages, accounts payable, accounts receivable, benefits, etc.
You detractors want to get your stories straight? You all say that passing the NRST will put accountants and tax attorneys out of work, and then you pretend that these services don't cost anything.
No change unless you going to mandate eliminating employee benefits for some reason. Why would you do that?
Nice try to twist my words. There are benefit programs that exist solely for the purpose of allowing employees to do stuff with "pre-tax" dollars: 401k, flexible spending accounts, certain transportation plans. Without income taxes, there would be no need for these programs or their administrative costs.
How is the NRST going to change interest rates?
Same way that tax-free bonds have lower yields. When the investor does not need to recoup additional money to make a target amount after taxes, the rate of return can drop down to the target after-tax rate.
You keep setting them up and I'll keep knocking them down.
You haven't knocked down a thing.
Only assuming that the employees don't end up with it.
The excise tax on the employer [26 USC 3111] is paid 'with respect to having individuals in his employ,'
Not much left for assuming there. Especially considering the business also pays for the accounting and reporting costs for that little ditty.