We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration. Prostitution is known as the world's oldest profession. The German city of Bonn wants its professionals to pay their fair share in taxes, so it has set up a converted parking ticket machine to collect a nightly fee.
The German city of Bonn decided this year to tax its prostitutes, but unsurprisingly, officials couldn't seem to get the prostitutes working on the street to file their tax returns. For the women working in organized settings like the several brothels in town, it wasn't a problem. The machines are located in a new area the city opened this year with a security guard, a bathroom for freshening up and six parking bays divided by wooden walls where the women and their customers can get some privacy.
But the sex workers, their clients and their activities inevitably bother some residents. Bonn's previous street prostitution strip was somewhat residential and the neighbors' complaints were becoming a problem, which prompted the city to move the strip to an industrial area near the train tracks, next to an existing brothel. One of the prostitutes out on the street is "Nicoleta," a year-old woman from Romania.
For her, the problem isn't the tax but that lately there isn't enough work. It's not that much money, but when there's no work, wellβ¦". According to Nicoleta, business was better on the old strip. She isn't sure why, but suspects it might have to do with the brothel at the end of the street. But, she admits the facilities with the bathroom and the security guard are nice.
She thinks more parking slots would be better, but finds it nice that each one has an emergency button. If one of the prostitutes has a problem with a customer, they can immediately alert the security guard. From the city's perspective, the new arrangement is much easier to patrol and, with the tax tickets, it's easier to check who's paid and who hasn't. That's why we think the tax is justifiable. The machine was installed last Friday. According to the city, the take for the first weekend was already more than euros.
