The merchat is the fiduciary agent, sure, but the customer still has to pay the tax. It’s out of their own pocket. You’re needlessly complicating it.

In both cases, the tax is paid from the money that otherwise could come to a human, it’s just business is deducting it automatically.

Sales tax is paid by the customer, not the business. I … don’t know why you think it’s automatically deducted by the business? Unless you mean B2B purchases

But that doesn’t mean it’s a tax on the employee. That’s like saying sales tax is on the business, when it’s actually on the customer.