Because prostitution is not a crime in Italy, earnings are considered taxable income.
However, when a 32-year-old high-class call girl recently received a tax bill
of 90,000 euro, she refused to pay it. The bill was based on the tax
authority’s estimate of her earnings, approximately 350,000 euros. The woman, a
native of Uruguay who came to Italy in 2004, says that she is determined to fight
the case in the courts.
She argues that she should not be expected to pay
taxes for working in a high-risk industry that does not receive protection
under the law: ‘I’ve had to protect myself. No one listened to me when I asked
for help. The police said they couldn’t step in unless blood was shed. And now
they’re asking for taxes?’
The woman’s lawyer commented that if the
government wanted to cash in on a prostitution tax then it should provide regulated
and protected facilities for sex workers.
The incident has rekindled debate among lawmakers
on the legalization of prostitution. Leftist MPs are pushing the government to
‘recognise as a profession the provision of remunerated sexual services from
one consensual adult to another’, while right wing politicians from the
Northern League argue that the woman should be deported.
