The per-day rate that a company charges is not the same as the salary that person makes. So yes, it costs 300K to hire a contractor full time. Not only in the US, but on most parts of Europe too.
I feel a bit dirty for having to explain such simple things. All the armchair pundits here are declaring 'how can they screw up a simple website'. Nobody here (except if there are people reading this who actually worked on this project) knows how hard this project is, and how much integration is required. Personally, if somebody had asked me to make a quote for a project this size a year ago, and going on the information we have now, I would have said that it's impossible to build something this big and this complex within a year. Can't be done. IT systems of tax administrations of small countries that do less than this system have cost 10 years to get to a stable, workable state. How can anyone build this within a year?
Assuming a normal work schedule (weekdays only), with four weeks of vacation, the usual holidays (10) plus paid sick days (5), there are about 225 work days a year. Multiply 800 by 225 and you get $180000, which is a very reasonable yearly cost for a senior developer (it needs to include salary, benefits, office space, equipment, support staff, etc.).
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It costs ~$300K for a senior web developer in the US currently?
The per-day rate that a company charges is not the same as the salary that person makes. So yes, it costs 300K to hire a contractor full time. Not only in the US, but on most parts of Europe too.
I feel a bit dirty for having to explain such simple things. All the armchair pundits here are declaring 'how can they screw up a simple website'. Nobody here (except if there are people reading this who actually worked on this project) knows how hard this project is, and how much integration is required. Personally, if somebody had asked me to make a quote for a project this size a year ago, and going on the information we have now, I would have said that it's impossible to build something this big and this complex within a year. Can't be done. IT systems of tax administrations of small countries that do less than this system have cost 10 years to get to a stable, workable state. How can anyone build this within a year?
Assuming a normal work schedule (weekdays only), with four weeks of vacation, the usual holidays (10) plus paid sick days (5), there are about 225 work days a year. Multiply 800 by 225 and you get $180000, which is a very reasonable yearly cost for a senior developer (it needs to include salary, benefits, office space, equipment, support staff, etc.).