Tax on robots? We’re not 21st Century Luddites

THE Chancellor is set to ignore calls from the world’s richest man for a tax on robots when he presents next week’s Budget, according to a Treasury Minister. Microsoft founder Bill

HUMAN COST: Bill Gates ha has proposed a tax on robots Gates has proposed a levy on robots to make up for the income tax lost from the jobs they replace. He said: ‘Right now, for the human who does $50,000 of work in a factory, that is taxed and you get income tax, social security, all those things.

‘If a robot comes to do the same thing, you would think we would tax the robot at a similar level.’

But Treasury Minister David Gauke has already said the UK is opposed to a robot levy. Speaking earlier this month at a meeting of think-tank Politeia, he said: ‘We shouldn’t regard such advances with the hostility of 21st Century Luddites, nor seek to stifle them in a misguided attempt to protect jobs. Don’t expect the Chancellor to announce a new “tax on robots” any time soon. The role of Government is to back and enable the science, research and innovation of the next generation.’