Yesterday, Greg Hinz of Crain's reported that, accordiing to first quarter campaign finance disclosures, many Republican campaigns in Illinois are paying their workers as contractors rather than full-time employees. Why does this matter? Hinz explains:
[W]hen someone is an employee, they and their employer split the Social Security tax. But when someone is an independent contractor, the employer pays nothing and the worker pays 150% of what they'd normally owe.
As an example, Hinz noted that Democratic 10th Congressional District candidate Dan Seals had "reported paying more than $30,000 in payroll taxes through January" while his GOP rival Robert Dold "paid nothing." Within hours, Seals had a release out slamming his Dold on the issue: “My opponent owes voters an explanation as to
why he has failed to pay thousands in taxes for his campaign employees,
leaving hard-working Illinois taxpayers holding the bag.”
The payroll issue may also surface in the hotly-contested 11th and 14th congressional districts, where the Republican challengers have similarly avoided paying payroll taxes up to this point. (UPDATE 1:30 p.m.: Gov. Quinn has also called out GOP gubernatorial challenger Bill Brady on this issue.)
