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This study seeks to provide the most comprehensive possible overview of the progressivity and the redistributive nature of the French tax/benefit system. We adopt a broad definition of redistribution by jointly examining taxes and the cash benefits that they partly finance. Our approach demonstrates the progressivity and the redistributive nature of the system as a whole. Both characteristics are mainly due to benefits and, to a lesser extent, direct taxes. The tax/benefit system entails a top-down redistribution on the standard-of-living scale, leaving the middle unchanged. We conclude by assessing the system’s effectiveness in the light of optimal taxation theory.