Marital and familial schemes reduce income tax by € 29.7 billion

In France, income tax is family-related, that is to say, it takes into account the resources and family expenses of the tax household.

In 2018, in mainland France, marital and family mechanisms reduced income tax by € 29.7 billion. Without these schemes, and with unchanged household behavior, 15.1 million households would pay a higher tax, including 4.8 million non-taxable households which would become so. In addition, 1.1 million households would pay a lower tax, mainly due to the décote mechanism, the calculation of which may be less favorable to couples than to isolated individuals.

Wealthy households are the main beneficiaries of these schemes: half of the gains are concentrated in the quarter of the wealthiest households. Indeed, the number of winning households and the average amount of earnings partly follow the progressive profile of income tax: they increase with the standard of living, in particular under the effect of the marital tax gain whose effects are capped at a level much higher than those of the family tax gain.