荷兰将对红灯区妓女征税

The taxman is homing in on Amsterdam's thriving sex industry, warning the city's prostitutes it is time they paid their share.

The country legalised the practice a decade ago, but it is only now getting around to looking at the sex workers who advertise themselves in shop windows in Amsterdam's red-light district.

'We began at the larger places, the brothels, so now we're moving on to the window landlords and the ladies,' said a spokeswoman for the country's tax service.

The move is meeting little opposition, even among prostitutes - though some are skeptical it can be enforced.

Prostitution has flourished in the city since the 1600s, when the country was a major naval power and sailors arrived at the port looking for a good time.

Prostitutes were told they would be audited in typically bureaucratic fashion, with a notice addressed to: ' landlords and window prostitutes in Amsterdam' published last week in the city's main newspaper.

Although the Dutch state is not going to make a fortune just by squeezing the vice girls, the sex trade is a serious industry that went almost entirely untaxed.

The Central Bureau of Statistics estimates prostitution generates £550 million a year. Under Dutch law, girls should be charging 19 per cent sales tax on each transaction.

Profits are personal income, taxed at anywhere from 33 per cent for someone making less than £15,000 a year to 52 per cent for people making more than £45,000.

A study in October estimated there are slightly fewer than 8,000 prostitutes and 3,000 working behind windows.

荷兰税务部门表示，将对阿姆斯特丹繁荣的性服务业征税，并提醒该市的性工作者到了交税的时候了。

荷兰性服务业在10年前合法化，但直到最近才考虑对阿姆斯特丹红灯区的“橱窗女郎”征税。

荷兰税务部门的一位女发言人说：“我们先从妓院这些较大的营业场所开征，现在要向橱窗店主和站街女郎们推进了。”

这项征税措施并未遇到太多反对，甚至一些性工作者也表示赞同，但一些人质疑这一计划的可行性。

自17世纪开始，性服务业就在阿姆斯特丹兴盛起来，当时荷兰是一个海军强国，海员抵岸后常去寻欢作乐。

性工作者被告知她们将被进行“官僚式”审计。上周，阿姆斯特丹的主要报纸刊登了一则“致房东和橱窗女郎的通知”。

尽管荷兰并非要通过压榨橱窗女郎来增收，但性服务业作为一种正当行业却几乎免税却是不争的事实。

荷兰中央统计局估计，性服务业年营业额高达5.5亿英镑。按照荷兰法律，性服务者每完成一笔“交易”，应缴纳19%的营业税。

此外，性工作者还需按收入高低缴纳个人所得税。年收入低于1.5万英镑的性工作者缴纳比例为33%，而高于4.5万英镑的性工作者缴纳比例为52%。

去年十月的一项调查估计，荷兰目前有刚不到8千名性工作者，其中有3千名是橱窗女郎。

Vocabulary:

home in on: move toward or focus on a goal（把思想、注意力集中于）

get around to: do something despite obstacles such as lack of time（抽出时间来做或考虑）