Just to clarify in understanding why recruiters are so adamant about this information. For said job they are trying to fill the budget pays $X dollars, if you'r

Just to clarify in understanding why recruiters are so adamant about this information. For said job they are trying to fill the budget pays $X dollars, if you're asking for $0.85X then they have a 0.15X margin to work with. Depending on how much that is reveals how lucrative filling you into that role would assume and whether it would cover their costs and what not. It's not uncommon for recruiters to retain 25-30% of the billing rate the company dishes out.