"Prostitutes who operate openly in Amsterdam’s red light district have been warned by Dutch authorities that the government will begin enforcing tax collections on their earnings."
According to the Daily Web CPA, while prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands for over a decade and prostitutes have previously been subject to taxation, many have not paid taxes on their income.
From a tax point of view, this must be one of the best retail cash businesses in history because patrons do not want their spouses to see the charge on their credit cards, though that is easily remedied. OK, I digress but
Associated Press has actually sent reporters on the trail of this story and the reporting is just the anecdotal stuff that works with with print or digital media.
AP's story goes on to tell the tale that agents of the nation’s Tax Service who have recently begun visiting brothels in the red light district (business only) to warn the owners and individual sex workers of their tax obligations. "We began at the larger places, the brothels, so now we're moving on to the window landlords and the ladies," said Janneke Verheggen, spokeswoman for the country's Tax Service.
Since Amsterdam is a port city, Amsterdam has long been a magnet for prostitutional commerce for hundreds of years -- i.e. sailors looking for a good time. But it was only about ten years ago that the "practice was legalized" (Why is it referred to as a practice when it's the world's oldest profession?), and the tax authorities are just getting around to it. Hmm, what took them so long?
This new tax move
signifies a shift to the more conservative -- from a Netherlands renowned for permissiveness, and at the same time, provides proceeds to government coffers.
Here's AP's delicious original reporting at its best: "It's a good thing that they're doing this," said Samantha, a statuesque blond Dutchwoman in a white leather dress who offers her services from behind one of the hundreds of red-curtained windows in the heart of the city's ancient center.
"It's a job like any other and we should pay taxes," she said.
After-expense profits (What are the legal deductible business expenses? Plastic surgery? The bed? Cheerleader outfits?) can be taxed at 33 percent for those making less than about $23,000 a year and up to 52 percent for those making over about $70,000 annually.
Prostitutes by and large have not been protesting the tax crackdown, according to AP. Which is not to say no one is complaining. At least one Dutch prostitute said to an AP reporters she has been paying taxes all along, but blamed immigrants from Eastern Europe for not paying their fair share.
Something to moan about.