Robot Tax
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A policy concept that proposes taxing firms that deploy robots or automated systems, or reducing existing tax incentives for automation investment, in order to address the erosion of payroll-tax revenues and mass displacement of workers as AI and robotics replace human labor. Bill Gates's 2017 public endorsement triggered international debate; that same year, South Korea's Moon Jae-in administration reduced the productivity-enhancing facility investment tax credit from 3% to 1% for large firms and from 5% to 3% for mid-sized firms, a move widely characterized as the world's first de facto robot tax. Embroiled in disputes over the legal definition of a robot, potential stifling of innovation, and competitive disadvantage, the robot tax has become a class-contested issue over how to redistribute the fiscal burden of automation between labor and capital.
Related terms
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) comprehensive overview: definition, Bill Gates interview, South Korea's 2017 quasi-robot tax, Xavier Oberson's legal scholarship, arguments for and against
- taxfitness.com.au South Korea enacted the world's first robot tax (2017); reduced tax deduction for automation investment by 2 percentage points; world's highest robot density at 1,000 per 10,000 workers
- sisajournal.com detailed Korean-language analysis: Moon Jae-in government reduced productivity-enhancing facility tax credit from 3·5·7 to 1·3·7; Ministry of Economy and Finance official called it 'early-stage Korean-style robot tax'; traces prior Park Geun-hye-era tax credit reduction attempts