London: The German city of Bonn has
reportedly introduced "sex tax" meters for street prostitutes
in an attempt to tax the world`s oldest profession.
Prostitutes working on the streets of the erstwhile West
German capital would now have to buy a ticket from converted
roadside vending machines before starting their working "day"
-- prostitution is legal in Bonn between 8.15 pm and 6 am.
A night`s ticket will set a sex worker back 5.30 pounds,
irrespective of the number of clients they have, `The Daily
Telegraph` reported.
Like parking metres, the vending machines -- that once
dispensed tickets to the city`s drivers -- also tell users the
times of day when a ticket is necessary: in this case between
the hours of 8.15 pm and 6 am, Monday to Sunday.
If a police officer catches a sex worker without ticket,
they will be fined or banned from working, the newspaper said.
Monika Frombgen, a spokeswoman for Bonn city council,
said the ticket machines would bring street prostitutes into
fiscal line with their peers in registered sex establishments.
"This is an act of tax fairness. Prostitutes in fixed
establishments such as brothels and sauna clubs already pay
tax," she was quoted by the British newspaper as saying.
Some 200 prostitutes work in Bonn. This is the first time
tax tickets have been sold on the streets in Germany.
PTI
