Feature

“Death and (robot) taxes”

In the June issue of DPA I talk about Benjamin Franklin, taxes and robots. But what do they all have in common?

03/06/2019 11:47:30

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It was Benjamin Franklin who wrote in a 1789 letter “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Was he right?

With Industry 4.0 gaining momentum, industry is taking the
initiative to equip itself with the technologies it needs to succeed. According to a new Sage report, emerging technologies like robotics, IoT and automation will have the greatest impact on businesses over the next five years. There’s
no avoiding it, if a business hopes to improve its productivity, and therefore its profitability, then investing in automation is a needs-must.

But with this realisation comes a whole host of new problems, with the most recent one
being on robot taxation. It was Bill Gates, back in February 2017, who believed that the Government should start taxing companies who utilise robotics to fund other types of employment. In an interview with Quartz,
Gates said that “a robot tax could finance jobs taking care of elderly people or working with kids in schools, for which needs are unmet and to which humans are particularly well suited.”

Read the full article in the June issue of DPA

Written By Sophia Bell

Sophia Bell is the Group Editor of DPA, Connectivity, and PBSI. She joined the team in 2020 as Assistant Editor after achieving a First-Class Honours BA in English Literature and Film Studies from the University of East Anglia. In her current role, she leads the editorial strategy, driving digital growth and ensuring each title continues to deliver trusted, relevant insight for engineering and manufacturing professionals.