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Remote working and learning taken as a preventative measure against the transmission of COVID-19 has left millions of Americans homebound. Offices, schools and other public workspaces have been closed for months as the pandemic rages on.
A new report commissioned by financial giant Deutsche Bank proposes that for people who continue to work from home rather than in an office, a 5% income tax should be levied to support low-income workers who do not have the possibility of staying at home.
As part of his “Rebuild“Deutsche Bank calculates that the average worker would not be worse off paying this tax because of the costs saved by working remotely, Business Insider Reports.
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The hypothetical tax has the potential to generate $ 49 billion a year in the United States, as well as € 20 billion for Germany and £ 7 billion in the United Kingdom.
Its goals would be to help support low-wage workers who have to return to their desks on a daily basis despite the global health crisis.
It notes that the self-employed and lower paid employees should be excluded from the tax and only apply in countries where the government has not ordered people to work from home.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not officially ordered all work spaces closed amid the pandemic. It offers advice on how to protect staff and slow the spread of COVID-19 around office buildings.
“Working from home will be part of the ‘new normal’ long after the pandemic has passed. We argue that remote workers should pay a fee for the privilege,” said Jim Reid, research strategist at Deutsche Bank, in the report.
A 5% income tax for remote workers is justified primarily by the money saved between transport and food, as well as the increased flexibility that remote working creates.
“This means that remote workers contribute less to the infrastructure of the economy while still benefiting from its benefits,” the report’s authors wrote.
Using a salary of $ 55,000 as an example, if the 5% tax were levied on that person, it would be about $ 10 per day.
These additional funds could be used to cover the costs of low-income workers who are forced to enter a physical workplace.
“The $ 48 billion raised could pay a subsidy of $ 1,500 to the 29 million workers who cannot work from home and earn less than $ 30,000 a year,” said Luke Templeman of Deutsche Bank.
“For the first time in history, a large number of people have disconnected from the face-to-face world but are still leading full economic lives,” he added.
Many workers in lucrative fields, including those employed in tech and financial companies, have had an easier transition to working from home than employees who work in places like restaurants and department stores where physical presence is a part. work.
A slew of companies have decided to delay the return of their office space, with companies like Google, Uber, Airbnb, Slack, Target, Microsoft and the New York Times postponing office reopens until summer 2021 – an estimate from when a COVID-19 vaccine will be widely distributed.
“I hope this gives you the flexibility you need to balance work and take care of yourself and your loved ones over the next 12 months,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in an email. addressed to employees regarding a potential return to the office in July 2021, by The New York Times.
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