Prise en compte de la famille dans l’imposition des revenus en France

French personal income taxation is historically familialized since the contributor was originally the head of family, responsible to the tax authorities for his wife and children. Since 1945, this takes the form of the quotient familial, original from an international standpoint. The present article seeks to evaluate the different potential consequences of this scheme. First, the historical path to such taxation is presented to understand the scheme and the motivations for its setting. Second, as for equity, this scheme?s properties are analyzed in relation to the different ways of considering Government purpose as well as the constraints and objectives of its financing. Last, as for efficiency, the incentive impacts are evaluated, in terms of birth policy as well as in terms of married women participation to the labor market.