[The Editors' Verdict] Window Tax and Robot Tax

In medieval England, there was a hearth tax. It was a tax created based on the assumption that wealthy households would have fireplaces. A tax of 2 shillings was levied per fireplace. However, it was not easy to enter every inhabited house to count the fireplaces. Some people even removed their fireplaces to avoid paying the tax.

William III, who ascended to the English throne after the Glorious Revolution in 1688, devised a clever alternative tax to replace the hearth tax. This was the so-called window tax. At the time, glass was rare due to underdeveloped technology. Glass windows were a symbol of wealth. Also, wealthier people tended to live in mansions with many windows, so the tax was designed accordingly. From today's perspective, it seems utterly absurd, but the window tax lasted for a staggering 150 years throughout medieval Europe, changing countries along the way.

Traces of the window tax still remain. In England, taxes were levied based on the number of windows, so people blocked up their windows to avoid the tax. Even now, you can see old buildings in England with windows that have been sealed off. In France, the width of the windows was used as the basis for taxation. As a result, the French began installing narrow and tall windows in their buildings. This remains a characteristic feature of French architecture today.

The reason for creating the hearth tax and window tax in medieval Europe, including England and France, was the enormous financial need to wage wars. It was the result of rulers brainstorming ways to collect more taxes from the wealthy. However, the burden fell on the poor. The rich did not care much about paying more taxes from the start. But commoners who could not afford the taxes came up with ways to eliminate windows. They had to live in dark houses without sunlight, and due to poor ventilation, they were vulnerable to infectious diseases. Thus, taxation sometimes creates unintended victims.

Recently, debates about basic income have spread into discussions about tax increases, especially in political circles. Providing basic income to all citizens requires enormous finances, making tax hikes inevitable. Even if only 100,000 won per month is given to every citizen, it requires an annual budget of 60 trillion won, and if 300,000 won per month is paid, an enormous 180 trillion won budget is needed. It is difficult to raise such a huge amount even by adjusting existing welfare expenditures. Naturally, this leads to discussions about tax increases. If tax hikes are still insufficient, proposals have emerged to create new tax categories such as carbon tax, robot tax, data tax, and land ownership tax.

Among these, the robot tax is mentioned most frequently. The main idea is that since robots have taken away human jobs, a tax should be imposed on robots to fund the basic income system. Supporters justify this by citing Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft (MS), who advocated for a robot tax in 2017. However, at the same time, the European Parliament, after intense debate, decided not to adopt the robot tax.

The robot tax raises complex issues such as defining what exactly counts as a robot and which items should be taxed. Above all, the robot tax poses a significant risk of hindering innovation. Ultimately, the robot tax is likely to be passed on as a burden to companies and researchers developing advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), and eventually to consumers. The same applies to the data tax, which is also being discussed.

Experts predict that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be accelerated by several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are at a critical moment to seize this opportunity and promote economic growth. No country in the world has introduced a robot tax, and no citizen would want to fall behind in the competition of the Fourth Industrial Revolution because of it. It is even pitiable to see politicians bringing up the robot tax to fund basic income payments.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.