Articles / Interactive Tool

Permission Tax Calculator

Calculate the hidden cost of permission dependency on your toll positions. Measures time bleed, money leakage, and freedom constraints.

interactive calculator
Permission Tax Calculator
Enter your numbers to calculate the true cost of permission dependency.
Position Revenue
Dimension 1: Time Bleed
Include: scheduling calls, drafting approval requests, waiting for responses, revising content per partner feedback, coordinating calendars, requesting data access, following up on delayed payments.
Dimension 2: Money Leakage
Rate compression = difference between your current rate and what you'd earn with a direct merchant relationship. Other = payment delays, capped send frequency, restricted offer selection.
Dimension 3: Freedom Constraints
Estimate revenue from experiments you couldn't run: subject line tests (5-15% open rate lift), send-time optimization (3-8% CTR lift), product recommendation tests (up to 2x conversion on a single email).
Results
Time bleed cost $1,200
Money leakage cost $800
Freedom constraint cost $400
Total permission tax $2,400/mo
Permission tax rate 30.0%
Effective position revenue $5,600/mo
Annual permission tax $28,800/yr

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