Netherlands Taxes

People in the Netherlands spend about as much on sex as they do on flowers, but it wasn't until Tuesday that Parliament made the sex industry as legal--and as taxable--as tulips. The 150-member Parliament revoked a law prohibiting pimping. Previously, individual prostitutes could sell sex but could not be organized legally in brothels. Authorities had tolerated brothels, however, to monitor the trade.

People in the Netherlands spend about as much on sex as they do on flowers, but it wasn't until Tuesday that Parliament made the sex industry as legal--and as taxable--as tulips. The 150-member Parliament revoked a law prohibiting pimping. Previously, individual prostitutes could sell sex but could not be organized legally in brothels. Authorities had tolerated brothels, however, to monitor the trade.