People collecting unemployment for the first time stumbled twice
"It's a common problem," Nadine Hawver, a tax preparer in western Massachusetts, assured me (cue nervous laughter here). She went on to explain the root of the issue: "Unemployment doesn't meet all of our normal income, so most people are hesitant to have any [money withheld] because they need every penny to meet their obligations."
Phew. This answer had me breathing easier from the get-go; despite my flawed logic, I'm not the only one facing this present predicament.
Hawver went on to acknowledge another very simple truth: "I think the hardest thing [in 2020] was many people were collecting unemployment for the very first time