Looks like all the pay for play professional ladies of the night in Amsterdam will soon have a meeting with the tax man.
According to the AP, a notice printed in Amsterdam's main paper, addressed "to landlords and window prostitutes in Amsterdam," stated that Agents of the Tax Service would be visiting the smaller prostitutes' businesses and reviewing their business administration "...such as prices, staffing, agendas and calenders."
Le sigh. Can't win them all ladies.
But hey, this taxation thing is probably a good/ right thing to do.
The AP reports:
Bartho Boer, spokesman for the mayor, said the city did not request the tax crackdown, but supports it. He said the city is not seeking to shed its anything-goes image, just tone it down a bit.
"This helps against human trafficking and coercion," he said. "It furthers government oversight."
Verheggen, of the Tax Service, said tax agents are not connected with police or immigration authorities but will inform them if they see obviously illegal situations.
Less human trafficking= huge win.
Plus, the government may be able to cover some of that European debt that seems to be so prevalent these days.
Though the Dutch state is not going to fill its coffers just by squeezing prostitutes, the sex trade is a serious industry that went almost entirely untaxed until legalization.
The Central Bureau of Statistics estimates prostitution generates euro660 million ($865 million) in annual turnover, or a little less than euro50 ($65) per person in a country of 16 million — though many customers are tourists.
Under Dutch law, prostitutes should be charging 19 percent sales tax on each transaction. Customers typically pay euro50 ($65) for a 15 minute session. In addition, after-expense profits are personal income, taxed at anywhere from 33 percent for someone making less than euro18,000 ($23,000) per year to 52 percent for people making more than euro54,000 ($70,000).
Sex workers, who are almost all women, can fall beyond both ends of that range.
_______________________________________________________
Questions? Comments? Email us atNetNet@cnbc.com
Follow NetNet on Twitter @ twitter.com/CNBCnetnet
Facebook us @ www.facebook.com/NetNetCNBC
