“They now have to somehow find $57K in cash to pay the govt, despite not making a real profit.”
Since 2022, software salaries count as R&D that must be amortized over five years, or fifteen for foreign workers. A company that breaks even on paper now deducts only 10 percent of its engineering payroll in year one and pays tax on phantom profit. Big Tech absorbs that from its cash pile. Bootstrapped shops lay off engineers to pay the IRS.