Prostitution tax fails to arouse legislators in Nevada
April 14, 2009
Nevada legislators have defeated a proposed prostitution tax that had won support from brothel owners and working ladies willing to do their part to ease the state's $3 billion (about R27.1 billion) budget crisis.
Nevada, one of only two US states that allow prostitution, is reeling from a deep recession that has led to high numbers of foreclosures, dwindling tourism revenues and a gaping budget shortfall.
State senator Bob Coffin, a Democrat, proposed levying a $5-per-customer service tax on patrons of about 20 legal brothels operating in rural Nevada, where prostitution remains outlawed.
But a sharply divided State Senate committee voted four to three to kill the tax, which Coffin said would have raised an estimated $2 million a year.
Bordellos, which go by such names as the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, the Chicken Ranch and the Shady Lady Ranch, are already taxed by local governments. Brothels and their prostitutes also pay an annual $100 licensing fee each to the state.
"It's time for an increase," Coffin said. "The leadership of the legislature has been saying for many months that everything was on the table as far as money revenue, so I decided to take them up on it and bring this forward." - Reuters
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