Everybody's already paying the congestion tax. They just pay in time, health, and lost productivity. But since it's a negative externality, the incentive to fix it is blunted.
If a congestion tax worked, the overall burden would go down, because businesses would work harder to locate offices near where employees are (or want to be). And they'd also likely get more active in things like housing and transit policy, because it would be to their direct financial benefit to make sure that development was more balanced.
You... prefer the version that makes everyone pay for telecommuters, rather than making only those who directly interact with non-telecommuter companies pay, and which is more open to being gamed/scammed? Why?
Re:Why Do We Still Commute?
by timthelion on Friday November 03, 2017 @09:03AM
(#15618827)
Tax credits are, IMO, a bad thing for normal people. Most people do not know have the know-how to take advantage of them.
Re:Why Do We Still Commute?
by drchickensalad on Friday November 03, 2017 @09:04AM
(#15618833)
So then what about the government revenue loss from tax credits?
I prefer an alternative approach: a telecommuting incentive tax credit. Telecommuters themselves get a tax credit and companies also get a tax credit.
That would be the fastest way to spur more remote friendly workplaces. Then the environment, congestion, commute stress, etc will all be reduced. The "cost" of the credit would be more than offset by reduced road maintenance costs, lower pollution, fewer accidents, etc.
Unless you're dealing with customers directly, or making a physical product, there's no reason that offices in their conventional form should exist.