How can compulsory levies be used to promote social justice[Comment les prélèvements obligatoires peuvent-ils être au service de la justice sociale]

The aim of this brief contribution is to study the extent to wich compulsory levies are likely to contribute to social justice and in particular to the welfare system. The study of the tax structure of some OECD countries highlights the wide diversity of sources of tax revenue in the tax system of these countries. They differ in particular on the relative share of direct taxation of household income and VAT. It is recalled that the French experience of the VAT illustrates the weakly redistributive character of it. The French experience also shows that the income tax cannot be conceived without thinking about social justice in the welfare state. Finally we also show that conflicts over the impact of the adopted devices can emerge from antagonistic justice criteria.