What a brilliant idea!
THE NEW STREET SEX TAX: GERMAN PROSTITUTES PAY PARKING TICKET MACHINES FOR PERMISSION TO WORK
By Lee Moran
Mail Online
August 31, 2011
Prostitutes working the streets of the former German capital are now having to pay £5.30 per night to a modified parking meter - to gain permission to ply their trade.
Sex workers in Bonn face hefty fines for not forking out the new 'income tax' which has been brought in to try and regulate the outdoor aspect of the industry.
It is to bring them into line with the country's brothel workers who already pay out a percentage of their profits in tax, which varies depending on the region.
Critics say the system, introduced on Monday, for the city's 200 street workers will encourage prostitution.
But city officials, who are set to earn £265,000 per year from the system, believe it will go some way to bringing street prostitutes into line with their peers in registered sex establishments.
Spokesman Monika Frombgen said: 'This is an act of tax fairness.
'Prostitutes in fixed establishments such as brothels and sauna clubs already pay tax.'
She revealed that inspectors will monitor the streets.
And, if caught without a valid ticket, offenders would be reprimanded. They would then face fines, and later a ban.
The fee is a daily charge, and irrespective of how many punters are entertained.
The machines, made by German company Siemens, clearly show the times of day when a ticket is required.
After protests from residents, specific quarters have been designated as sex work zones.
City officials have created 'consummation areas', which are wooden parking garages where customers driving cars can retreat to with their prostitutes.
Dortmund has a similar system where prostitutes buy tickets from gasoline stations.
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