Hiring folks on contract was less expensive due to the lack of US domestic taxes (e.g. social security).

With Section 174 changes, though, that's not the case anymore, and I've spent a lot of time understanding that (because of the 15 year amortization). I won't get on my soapbox about Section 174 stuff and derail this thread. Check it out, though!

edit: missing content/context

https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/section-174/ is a good read on Section 174, for those who might be curious.

Gotcha. Is that making you lean towards hiring domestically now instead of overseas, or is the cheaper rates still worth it at the end of the day?

I haven't read up too much about 174. Are you suggesting contractor pay can't be written off anymore as well, and thus is less attractive, even at a lower dollar/hour cost, than hiring domestically?