I'm not talking about the child tax credit. The EITC is not $3,500 for someone who makes $35,000 but has no children. The EITC amoutn and max income limit both increase for each additional child up to three. http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=150513,00.html But as I said before, you are close to being correct. The average household/person making $35K pays less than 5%, and many do in fact pay nothing.