What fresh hell is this? We’ve stumbled across something that actually helps tackle air pollution, emissions, and work-life balance for millions, so let’s tax it... https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/11/staff-who-work-from-home-after-pandemic-should-pay-more-tax

Of course there are myriad important questions about how the benefits of home working fall unevenly, the unfairness of it not being available to all roles, the impacts on productivity and the wider economy, etc, etc.

But if this is an economy wide shift that needs to be funded and managed I don’t see how what amounts to ‘sin’ taxes to discourage it make any sense.

If we need to raise taxes - which we will do - and there is a justice in targeting the beneficiaries from the pandemic, then windfall taxes on tech giants and supermarkets and perhaps even the assets of wealthy pensioners makes much more sense than...

hitting the one increase in disposable income enjoyed by many workers in a decade, which also has the massive co-benefit of reducing pollution and stress while revitalising suburban communities.

Also, how on Earth would you enforce it? Track everyone’s phones to see where they are working? Offer rebates for those wfh for health or childcare reasons? Have taxation varying each month based on where you sit down in the morning?

Honestly, the lengths people will go to to protect a model that wasn’t really working and avoid the simple solution of progressive taxes on income and wealth and taxes on actual externalities and windfalls.

The whole thing does rather smack of ‘the middle classes have got their first meaningful increase in disposable incomes in decades; this cannot stand.’

Meanwhile, the admirable intent of boosting incomes for the lower paid would have a lot more credibility if they built on a track record of vocal lobbying for living wages, ending tax havens, and meaningful redistribution through progressive taxes.

Last point. I’m not actually a massive fan of home working. It’s got some serious downsides and lot of work needs to be done to make it effective and fair. But am utterly bemused how taxing it adds anything to the tricky task of navigating this complex shift.