Robot Tax. Tax not the robots (Brookings)

Robert Seamans

Anumber of highly regarded business people and politicians, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio, have commented on the potential need for a “robot tax.” Interest in such a tax appears to be founded on the belief that robots, and automation more generally, will lead to large job losses. The basic idea behind a robot tax is that firms pay a tax when they replace a human worker with a robot. Such a tax would in theory have two main purposes. First, it would disincentivize firms from replacing workers with robots, thereby maintaining human employment. Second, if the replacement were made anyway, a robot tax would generate revenues for the government that would cover the loss of revenue from payroll taxes. Some proponents of a robot tax also suggest that the revenue could then be used for worker re-training programs or other forms of support for the displaced worker.

Tax not the robots (brookings.edu)