Should Remote Workers Pay a Tax for the ‘Privilege’ of Using Their Home as an Office?
Reason | 11/12/2020 | Christian Britschgi

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the service sector, made millions unemployed, and forced many of us who still do have jobs to work remotely. Fortunately, we now have a perfect solution to all this economic dislocation and disruption: a new tax on working from home!

This week, the German financial giant Deutsche Bank released a new report full of proposals for how governments and corporations should respond to the pandemic. Included in the report is a call for a 5 percent tax on the incomes of people who work from home in places where the government is not advising or forcing people to do so.

“For years we have needed a tax on remote workers—COVID has just made it obvious,” writes Deutsche Bank’s Luke Templeton. “Remote workers are contributing less to the infrastructure of the economy whilst still receiving its benefits.”

Those who have the privilege of telecommuting are reaping rewards hand over fist in the form of less money spent on transportation, restaurant meals, and dry cleaning, argues Templeton.

… This tax would be paid by the employer if it requires people to work from home, and it would be paid by the employee if he or she voluntarily opts into the arrangement.

A 5 percent tax on remote workers’ income, which would net about $10 a day per worker on average, according to Deutsche Bank, would make sure no one benefits too much from using their home as an office.