Withholding taxes – tax payments automatically deducted from paychecks and unemployment insurance benefits and paid directly to the government – were $80 million above year-ago levels. Baker said the regular unemployment insurance benefit plus the extra $600 payment from the federal government kept withholding tax payments up. Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said some people were making more money on unemployment than they were working.
STATE OFFICIALS are scratching their heads in astonishment over the July tax revenue numbers released last week. Even though the state’s unemployment rate is in the stratosphere and many businesses are struggling to survive, the Department of Revenue reported...