Abstract:
Background: The looming Fourth Industrial revolution unveils advanced technology, such
as robots which will reshape the workforce completely, resulting in a depletion of tax
revenue, since they are currently not being taxed. Various scholars and tax-industry experts
have proposed taxing the robots, in order to curb this phenomenon.
Main purpose of study: The primary objective of this study is to determine whether the
notion of imposing tax on robots is feasible. In order to address this research objective, it
was imperative to determine what has previously been published on robot tax, as well as
the current understanding thereof.
Method: Academic articles, including industry reports and working papers on scholarly
databases such as Google Scholar, EbscoHost and ProQuest were utilised in performing a
systematic review on robot tax. A total of seventy publications were found on the scholarly
databases, after which the search criteria were applied, in order to screen the publications.
Of the seventy publications, only thirty-three publications were selected for the systematic
review. Results: After analysing the publications, it was evident that robot tax is a complex issue
with the majority of the authors proposing that some form of direct tax should be levied on
the robots.
Conclusions: It is evident that more research and debate are needed, in order to fully
comprehend the extent and complexity of this topic. Subsequently, experts should then be
able to suggest plausible solutions to curb revenue loss, without discouraging innovation
and automation.
