Taxation on robots? Challenges for tax policy in the era of automation
Authors
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Francisco Ossandón Cerda, Mg.
Universidad de Chile
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1066-2265
Abstract
The aim of this article is to discuss about the main issues related to the proposal of a robot tax. For this purpose, the first part briefly shows the current automation context in the world. The second part debates on how the tax could be justified, ranging from the threats of unemployment and inequality up to how governments could help displaced workers via universal basic income. The third part analyses in detail the issues of a robot tax. Finally, the last part tries to answer the question whether the tax is a good idea or not.Keywords:
Impuesto sobre los robots, automatización, política tributaria, desempleo, ingreso universal básicoReferences
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ly/3aeyIlj.
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BRYNJOLFSSON, Erik and MCAFEE, Andrew (2011). Race against the Machine. Digital Frontier Press, Lexington, Massachusetts.
CAYTAS, Joanne (2017). “European Perspectives on an Emergent Law of Robotics”. Colum-bia Journal of European Law: Preliminary Reference. Available at http://bit.
ly/3r156xH.
DELLOT, Benedict and WALLACE-STEPHENS, Fabian (2017). “The Age of Automation. Arti-ficial intelligence, robotics and the future of low-skilled work”, Action and Research Center. Available at http://bit.ly/34jvnxk.
DELVAUX, Mady (2016). “Report with recommendations to the Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics (2015/2103(INL))”, Committee on Legal Affairs, European Parliament. Available at http://bit.ly/2IUlleI.
ENGLISCH, Joachim (2018). “Digitalisation and the Future of National Tax Systems: Taxing Robots?”. Available at http://bit.ly/3865pyC.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (2017). “Civil Law Rules on Robotics. European Parliament reso-lution of 16 February 2017 with recommendations to the Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics (2015/2103(INL))”. Available at http://bit.ly/3mpE13G.
FREY, Carl and Osborne, Michael (2013). “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerisation”, Working Paper, Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment. Available at https://bit.ly/3oXQ2iv.
GARCÍA, César (2018). “La tributación de los robots y el futurismo fiscal”. Available at https://bit.ly/3882cyF.
GARCÍA-PRIETO, Juan (2018). ¿Qué es un Robot? En Moisés Barrio Andrés (editor),
Derecho de los robots. Madrid: Wolters Kluwer.
HARARI, Yuval (2016). Homo Deus: Breve historia del mañana. Santiago: Debate.
HARARI, Yuval (2018). 21 lecciones para el siglo XXI. Santiago: Debate.
KELA (2019). “The basic income experiment 2017–2018 in Finland. Preliminary Results”, Reports and Memorandums of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2019 (9). Available at http://bit.ly/2LxLe4X.
MAIA, Filipe (2017). “The Legal Status of Artificially Intelligent Robots”, Tilburg University. Available at http://bit.ly/3mm6fwp.
MANKIW, Gregory (2002). Principles of Economics. Third Edition, Cengage Learning.
MARWALA, Tshilidzi (2018). “On Robot Revolution and Taxation”. Available at https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.01666.
MAZUR, Orly (2018). “Taxing the Robots”, Pepperdine Law Review, Vol. 46, Forthcoming. Available at http://bit.ly/2Wj2du0.
MCKINSEY GLOBAL INSTITUTE (2017). “Jobs Lost Jobs Gained: Workforce Transitions in a Time of Automation”. Available at https://mck.co/3882N3n.
MITHA, Sam (2017). “Robots, technological change and taxation”, Taxjournal.com, Available at https://bit.ly/2Wodycq.
MUSGRAVE, R. y P. Musgrave (1992). Hacienda Pública: Teórica y Práctica, Quinta Edición. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.
NEDELKOSKA, L. and Quintini, G (2018). "Automation, skills use and training", OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers, No. 202, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/2e2f4eea-en.
NEVEJANS, Nathalie (2016). “Règles Européennes de Droit Civil en Robotique”. Étude pour la Comission Juri, Parlement Européen. Available at https://bit.ly/3mwRUNO.
OBERSON, Xavier (2017). “Taxing Robots? From the Emergence of an Electronic Ability to Pay to a Tax on Robots or the Use of Robots”, World Tax Journal. Available at https://bit.ly/3mrSfB2.
OECD (2016). “Enabling the Next Production Revolution: The Future of Manufacturing and Services - Interim Report”. Available at https://bit.ly/3gVx9dl.
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS (2017). “Sizing the prize. What’s the real value of AI for your business and how can you capitalise?”. Available at https://pwc.to/3oZO8hi.
PULKKA, Ville-Veikko (2017). “A free lunch with robots – can a basic income stabilise the digital economy?”, Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, Vol. 23 (3). Available at http://bit.ly/3gW519K.
SEGURA, Mario (2018). Los Robots en el derecho financiero y tributario. Derecho de los Robots (editor Moisés Barrio Andrés). Madrid: Wolters Kluwer.
SCHWAB, Klaus (2016). La Cuarta Revolución Industrial. Santiago: Debate.
TANNER, Michael (2015). “The Pros and Cons of a Guaranteed National Income”. Cato Institute. Available at http://bit.ly/3nuJnw6.
VAN NEUSS, Leif (2015). “Why did the Industrial Revolution Start in Britain?”. Available at http://bit.ly/37mbw2G.
WEST, Darrell (2015). “What happens if robots take the jobs? The impact of emerging technologies on employment and public policy”, Center for Technology at Brookings. Available at https://brook.gs/3gUzg19.
WORLD BANK (2019). “The Changing Nature of Work”, World Development Report. Avail-able at http://bit.ly/3mo4mzi.
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM (2018). “The Future of Jobs Report 2018”. Available at http://bit.ly/2LEzJZz.
ZHENG, Yuan, Guerriero, Marta and Lopez, Enrique (2017). “Universal Basic Income: A Working Paper. A Policy Option for China beyond 2020?”, UNDP China Office, Available at https://bit.ly/2szQGeo
YÁÑEZ, José (2016). "¿Por Qué Son Necesarios los Impuestos?". Revista de Estudios Tributarios, 16, Universidad de Chile, Santiago
