Part of the article's point was that so fewer people even got paychecks in 2020. That, and pandemic relief in the form of tax credits, which reduced people's ta

Part of the article's point was that so fewer people even got paychecks in 2020. That, and pandemic relief in the form of tax credits, which reduced people's tax liability. But also keep in mind: not everyone who has income gets it from a paycheck; plenty of self-employed or small business people don't get paychecks; when they're paid, it's up to them to put money aside all year to pay taxes at tax time.