This was more of a narrative, free-response than a fill-in-the-box questionnaire, which is much more amenable to looking at broader trends across a population. Like you said, it's just a snapshot in time.

I agree with KCHoo that the guy at poverty level isn't paying federal income tax and benefits from the EITC.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you rightly note that every cent for middle- and lower-income earners is generally accounted for, and they feel any increase in their tax at any level, whether they know it's federal or local, far more acutely than someone who's able to save for the future rather than subsist at threshold.