A Tax on Street Hookers - Whatever next? LOL

by mummatron 8 Replies latest social current

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  mummatron

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14730704

  German city of Bonn taxes prostitutes with meter

  The prostitution meter is said to be the first of its kind

  The German city of Bonn has installed a meter to tax prostitutes for soliciting on its streets at a rate of six euros (£5.30; $8.70) per night.

  Those who fail to pay face fines or even a ban, and 264 euros were found in the meter when it was first emptied, according to AFP news agency.

  Tax has been levied on prostitutes elsewhere but Bonn is the first city to use a meter, a spokeswoman said.

  But a prostitutes' rights activist said the scheme amounted to double taxation.

  Prostitutes are expected to pay the flat rate, regardless of earnings.

  The machine, which looks like an ordinary parking meter, has been installed in an industrial area near the city centre which favoured by prostitutes and their clients.

  'Consummation areas'

  Isabelle Klotz, a spokeswoman for the city, said they expected to get about 200,000 euros per year from the meter.

  The "consummation areas" are wooden cubicles designed to screen cars

  "Women who work in brothels also pay the tax but until now it had been difficult to get women on the street to pay," she added.

  "Thanks to this new method we will be able to tax them in all fairness with the others."

  There are believed to be about 200 prostitutes in Bonn.

  Juanita Rosina Henning, from the Dona Carmen prostitute support group, demanded the meter's removal, saying prostitutes already paid income tax.

  "This has nothing to do with fiscal equality," she said.

  City officials have restricted the prostitutes' areas of operation to specific quarters but critics say this has made it easier for prostitutes to ply their trade, Reuters news agency reports.

  Bonn has also erected "consummation areas", or wooden garages clients may use to visit prostitutes.
• 

  Lore

  Eh-Whaaa?

  
• 

  Band on the Run

  Prostitution is legal in most European countries. When I lived in Manhattan, there was notorious street prostittuion in front of my nice building. It was the neighborhood where Taxi Driver was filmed. Reading about prostitution and being subjected to its ugliness every time I had to go outside were very different experiences. The police used to come to placate me.

  They find enforcing prostiution laws is a total waste of time and resources. Pimps are rarely arrested. The women are mostly victims and drug addicts. If they are off the streets for three hours with an arrest, it was a long time. They see the police and mock them.

  I suggested legalizing it, taxing it, and zoning it onto a pier on the Hudson River. Normal residents could brings saws to the pier late at night and let it float into the Atlantic Ocean. They were practically jumping up and down with enthusiasm for my idea.

  The actuality of it was absolutely disgusting. Males friends complained to me all the time. The drug deliveries are so baltabnt. Once I stared at a pimp for three hours. Words can't explain how demeaning and dehumanizing they are. Once it is legal, it can be controlled for public health reasons. Pimps would lose most of their power.
• 

  designs

  Would that be Sales Tax or Income Tax
• 

  Glander

  pole tax?
• 

  Snoozy

  I used to think the porn industry was "regulated" also but I recently read they found some porn stars that had HIV..apparently it isn't as regulated as some think. I am thinking the "whore" houses are the same way.
  It seems in the "adult porn industry" no one wants to wear condoms..now they are sadly paying the price.

  Snoozy
• 

  finallysomepride

  Notice the sort of ads this thread attracts
• 

  Band on the Run

  The key problem from what I observed is the drug addiction. I've suffered withdrawal from prescribed meds. When you are in withdrawal, you will do anything to stop it. Words are inadequate to describe how awful it is. I never suffered the way a street addict would b/c I was using low amounts from an md. Help was one phone call away.

  The police told me nothing could be done because of traffic flow. I exclaimed that most of the cars were from New Jersey and could turn around a block. I also pointed out that the traffic flows the same way in front of Tiffany's and they had no street prostitution. I feel prostitution does go on midtown. It is more sophisticated and not on the street or ally. They told me a $15,000 contribution to the Mayor's Office would bring me results. It finally ended after 15 years. A university built a dorm on their drug den and provided heavy security. Also, a couple bought an expensive townhouse on the same block as the crack house. A tabloid screamed how a city dies. My eyes popped when it was "my" crack house. The next day the DEA and NYPD raised the house and confiscated the property.

  I don't see where the actual act of prostitution is society's business. Public health is a concern. I saw teenagers who looked like ugly ghouls. They all were in the process of dying. Very sad.
• 

  Band on the Run

  The key problem from what I observed is the drug addiction. I've suffered withdrawal from prescribed meds. When you are in withdrawal, you will do anything to stop it. Words are inadequate to describe how awful it is. I never suffered the way a street addict would b/c I was using low amounts from an md. Help was one phone call away.

  The police told me nothing could be done because of traffic flow. I exclaimed that most of the cars were from New Jersey and could turn around a block. I also pointed out that the traffic flows the same way in front of Tiffany's and they had no street prostitution. I feel prostitution does go on midtown. It is more sophisticated and not on the street or ally. They told me a $15,000 contribution to the Mayor's Office would bring me results. It finally ended after 15 years. A university built a dorm on their drug den and provided heavy security. Also, a couple bought an expensive townhouse on the same block as the crack house. A tabloid screamed how a city dies. My eyes popped when it was "my" crack house. The next day the DEA and NYPD raised the house and confiscated the property.

  I don't see where the actual act of prostitution is society's business. Public health is a concern. I saw teenagers who looked like ugly ghouls. They all were in the process of dying. Very sad.