Withholding Tax Collections in June: Clear Improvement
Posted June 27, 2020 Summary Withholding tax collections picked up in June. Withholding was down by about 5 percent for the month compared to the amount of withholding in June 2019; that is a clear improvement from the decline in May of about 7 percent compared to year-ago levels. Those measures remove the estimated effects […]
Excise Tax Collections: Down Substantially But Recovering Somewhat
Posted on June 24, 2020 Summary Excise tax collections have been down substantially during the pandemic, by 50 percent compared to year-ago levels for the most recent semimonthly payment in mid-June. The decline has occurred for three main reasons: a legislated suspension of aviation-related taxes through the end of the year; an administratively-allowed delay of […]
Unemployment Benefits: Big Tax Effects, Too
Posted on June 17, 2020 Summary The CARES Act has boosted unemployment benefits substantially, for many individuals cushioning the economic hardship imposed by the pandemic. Those unemployment benefits have substantial tax effects. Information from New York State suggests that most taxpayers are having income tax amounts withheld from their unemployment benefits, thereby potentially avoiding a […]
First Half of June Withholding: Slight Improvement
Posted on June 12, 2020 Summary Tax withholding continued to move up slightly in the first half of June, as the recent sharp declines in withholding have moderated somewhat since late April. The improvement in withholding suggests that economywide wages and salaries have moved up from their levels at the worst of the downturn, although […]
Revisions to Estimated Effects on Withholding of Recent Law Changes
Posted on June 8, 2020 Summary We now estimate that recent law changes have reduced withholding growth by about 4 percentage points, compared to the 8 percentage points we had previously been estimating. That change makes larger our estimates of the recent decline in withholding, adjusted to remove the effects of recent law changes. In […]
Hello Businesses: Anyone Out There Deferring Payroll Tax Remittances as Allowed by the CARES Act?
Posted on June 4, 2020 Summary It appears that a small share of firms are taking advantage of the provision of the CARES Act that allows them to defer, for an extended period, remitting to the Treasury their share of Social Security payroll taxes. The Congressional revenue estimates produced when the legislation was under consideration […]