Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 3...

Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 31 to 40.

        Once a sci-fi curio, automation now permeates daily life – from driverless vehicles to voice assistants and parcel drones – while public coffers quietly thin out. Robot tax is a policy idea meant to recoup revenue as firms substitute human labour with automated systems. It typically envisions two routes: a per-“robot employee” levy mirroring Income Tax, or a higher Corporation Tax rate on enlarged profits generated by automation. [I] The receipts, its advocates argue, could bankroll reskilling and buffer the social dislocation that abrupt technological shifts often intensify.

        Supporters say the measure answers two entwined problems: rising unemployment linked to mechanised efficiency and the erosion of wage-based tax bases that fund social care and education. Bill Gates popularised the notion as a brake to soften automation’s precipitous pace so communities can adapt. He further contends that innovation must not offload costs onto vulnerable groups and that governments should squarely address this issue rather than let markets alone arbitrate the transition. [II] In short, taxation would buy time – and tools – for a fairer adjustment.

        To date, only one country has taken a concrete step. South Korea in 2017 modified its corporate tax rules to dampen incentives for automation rather than impose a per-machine levy. South Korea introduced a form of robot tax in 2017 by trimming corporate tax incentives for automation, not by taxing individual machines. Calls for similar policies arise periodically in Canada, the US, the UK and the EU, yet no jurisdiction has advanced beyond debate, suggesting persistent uncertainty about scope, design, and downstream effects. [III]

        Proponents tout multiple upsides: clawing back forgone Income Tax, curbing profit-shifting by multinationals, slowing job losses, and even underwriting a modest universal basic income. Detractors reply that the tax may be unnecessary, productivity-sapping, and conceptually fuzzy – what exactly counts as a “robot”? An extortionate levy, they warn, could chill innovation and raise prices. [IV] Alternatives on the table include boosting Corporation Tax, increasing Capital Gains Tax, or applying higher VAT to purchases of automation technology, thereby raising revenue without a bespoke “robot” label.

(Adapted from https://taxfix.com/en-uk/blog/what-in-the-world-is-robot-tax/)

Question 31. According to paragraph 1, robot tax proposes either ______?
A. tax each robot like income, or increase corporation tax on profits.
B. tax workers directly, or reduce tariffs on imported industrial machinery.
C. apply payroll levies to managers, or subsidise robotic capital purchases.
D. impose VAT on wages, or abolish corporate income taxation entirely.