Taxman sets sights on Dutch prostitutes

Prostitutes in the Dutch city of Amsterdam will be receiving calls from an unwelcome visitor this year - the taxman dpa reported

From 2011, the women will have to start paying taxes, bringing to an end to the prostitutes' traditional tax-free status, daily Het Parool reported Thursday.

More than 3,000 sex workers are affected by the move, most of the them working in brothels or from prostitution windows in the city's red light district.

Tax inspectors will be asking the women how many clients they have a day and what their average earnings are.

Prostitution was legalized in the Netherlands in 2000, but few prostitutes have been paying taxes.

From this year they will be treated like any other business and expected to pay tax, the newspaper quoted a finance ministry spokesman as saying