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Taxing the
oldest profession
The
government’s attempts to widen the tax base took a controversial turn last
Monday as the tax authority APEH announced that prostitutes would be allowed to
apply for entrepreneur permits as part of a move to boost government income.
Ágnes
Bakonyi, spokeswoman for the State Tax Authority APEH, told InfóRádió that it
would help the prostitutes become entrepreneurs by giving them advice on bookkeeping
and legal issues.
Prostitution
has already been legalised in Hungary
– although only within certain zones – but the new move is aimed at bringing
the sex workers into the legal economy. The government has promised a crackdown
on the black economy, and according to APEH major funds can be raised from the sex industry.
“Some
20,000 people live from prostitution in Hungary – last year’s estimates
show that around HUF 180 billion (EUR 717.13 million) from the sex industry
went untaxed,” said Bakonyi.
Ágnes
Földi, head of the Hungarian Prostitutes’ Interests Protection Association,
said that some 500 women had applied for the scheme, which has 110 places to
start with, and that 20 had been issued with permits. Földi, whose group
received a grant under the National Development Plan to advise on the licences,
said that many sex workers were keen to sign up because they knew it was in
their best interest to work legally and consequently gain access to mortgages
and other services.
“They
recognise the possibility of making their lives easier with this,” she said.
Pimps not addressed
However,
other campaigners for women’s rights were less convinced, saying that it would
only be of use to a very small number of high-class prostitutes.
“The
majority of prostitutes are living under oppressive conditions – for these
women there is no question of starting an enterprise,” said Györgi Tóth of NANE
Women’s Rights Association. “Most have a pimp and are deprived of their
earnings. This move is only window dressing.”
Tóth was
also critical of Földi’s organisation, saying that it presented the wrong image
of prostitution in its attempts to remove the stigma from the trade. “In order
to take the blame off prostitutes, which is crucial, they try to deny the
reality of the majority of prostitutes and convey the message of high-class
entrepreneur women,” she said. “It is in their interests to deny the negative
side of prostitution.”
Nonetheless,
one prostitute who has already gained a permit was positive about the
experience.
“From now
on, no one will be able to ask me where I got the money to buy my house or my
car,” AP news agency quoted Rebeka as saying. “Now we are also part of a
taxpaying group and we too are making a contribution to society.”
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