Remote workers who opt to stay home even after the pandemic subsides should pay, according to the study, a 5% percent “privilege tax.” That money should then go to low-income essential workers who cannot do their jobs remotely.
Working from home has advantages, the study says, compared to an office: you save on clothes and commuting, for example. That is the privilege that should be taxed.
The bank is proposing the tax should be paid by the employer if it does not provide the employee with a desk at the office. If it does, employees “should pay the tax out of their salary for each day they work from home.” Self-employed people and those who earn low incomes should be excluded, and the tax would not apply to “times when the government advises people to work from home.”
Read the full article on TIME