When robots displace human jobs, they are destroying income of individuals. In that case, the government also may lose income tax from individuals. Given this possibility, there is a demand that a tax should be imposed on robots or those who deploy robots.
Robot tax is a proposed tax on firms that use robots in their businesses.
Economic historians warn that the quantum of job loss can’t be compared to the previous wave of industrialisation. “The number of jobs lost in 1890-1914 was nothing like today,” Mr Joel Mokyr, an economic historian was quoted by Financial Times. Now there are large number of jobs including - insurance underwriters, bank tellers and representatives, construction workers, farmers, taxi drivers, manufacturing workers, journalists and even movie stars who are under job loss threat due to automation and robotics.
