A research team at Deutsche Bank proposed that people pay a 5% tax for the "privilege" of working from home, if they continue to do so after the pandemic, as this could subsidize income lost by lower-earners due to the coronavirus crisis. Deutsche Bank thematic strategist Luke Templeman said in the investment bank's Konzept research report, published Tuesday, that a tax on remote workers had been needed for years but "Covid has just made it obvious."
Working from home meant that many people were saving on everyday costs such as travel, lunch, clothes and cleaning, as well as possibly spending less on socializing. However, the report also said it meant remote workers were "contributing less to the infrastructure of the economy whilst still receiving its benefits." Templeman said remote workers should pay a levy post-pandemic "in order to smooth the transition process for those who have suddenly been displaced" by the coronavirus crisis.
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Templeman said that some people would oppose the proposed tax, arguing that "engagement with the economy is a personal choice and they should not be penalised for making that decision." However, he highlighted that governments had always "backsolved taxes to suit the social environment." Subsidizing businesses that had no long-term future in this shift toward "human disconnection" made no sense for governments, Templeman said, but supporting workers who had been "displaced by forces out outside their control" while they retrain or figure out their next steps did. Therefore, he said, workers "lucky enough to be in a position to 'disconnect' themselves from the face-to-face economy owe it to them."
Fair, next if this starts gaining traction? I mean this was inevitable in the grand scheme of things as everyone's scouring for remote admin and data entry jobs far more than low paying, "essential" retail jobs.
