OTOH, isn't there a poverty-line amount in USA that makes some income level practically tax-free (through deductions, etc.)? I imagine that in most countries $15.000 / year is a rich person's income, while in USA it puts you under "starving". What I want to say, if you're living in, say, Kazakhstan, earning a good fat paycheck of $1000 a month and living like a king, shouldn't you file "I'm starving poor at $12000" to the IRS and get zero taxes, or, perhaps, even some food stamps or something like that?

(Just guessing, I don't have experience with this)