• Exactly what's deducted from your payroll and how much depends on your wages and the state in which you live. Certain deductions are federal and apply to all workers, but other deductions are set by the state. If you work in Massachusetts, you're subject to its state payroll deductions, whether you live there or not. There are a number of optional payroll deductions a person may choose to participate in voluntarily as well.
  
  

Federal Income Tax

• All people with income have to pay the federal income tax. Employers in Massachusetts should automatically deduct federal taxes a worker's paycheck. The federal income tax in the U.S. is a graduated tax rate, which goes up according to how high a person's taxable income is. As of 2010, the lowest marginal tax rate for single or married people, filing jointly or separately, was 10 percent. The highest marginal tax rate, applied to a single person making more than $373,650 per year, was 35 percent.
  
  

Social Security and Medicare

• Social Security and Medicare taxes are also mandatory federal taxes that are deducted from workers' paychecks. Since 1990, and as of 2010, the tax rate for Social Security's Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program has been 6.2 percent. The total tax is actually 12.4 percent, but most employees pay only half; the other half is usually paid by the employer. Self-employed people have to pay the whole tax by themselves. Medicare Part A, also called traditional Medicare or hospital Medicare, has its own tax rate. As of 2010, the employee's share of Medicare taxes was 1.45 percent.
  
  

Massachusetts State Income Tax

• The Massachusetts state income tax applies to all taxable income, including income gained from trusts. Workers automatically see a payroll deduction for the personal state income tax on their paychecks. Certain states have a graduated income tax, but Massachusetts, like Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, has a flat state tax rate. As of 2010, the state's tax rate was 5.3 percent.
  
  

Commonwealth Qualified Transportation Benefit Program

• Deductions for the Commonwealth Qualified Transportation Benefit Program is voluntary. The program allows participants to set aside money each paycheck for the cost of mass transit passes, vouchers, tokens or fare cards, as well as charges for parking facilities near where an individual works. Participants also receive a special Flex Express debit card, which can be used to purchase passes. The money is deducted prior to taxation, which can help lower state and federal income taxes.
  
  

Dependent Care Assistance Program

• State employees can choose to participate in the Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP). This program lets employees to set aside money via regular payroll deduction for dependent-care expenses such as day care for children or elder care. These are also deducted pretax. There's an annual limit of $5,000 per family, which can deducted for the DCAP, however.