《中英對照讀新聞》German city pares budget deficit with "sex tax" 德國城市用「性稅」削減預算赤字

◎管淑平

Challenged with a 100 million euro deficit, one western German city has introduced a day tax on prostitutes to help whittle down its budget gap.

為了解決1億歐元赤字，德國西部一個城市提出對娼妓課徵日稅，以協助削減預算缺口的辦法。

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The new "pleasure tax" requires prostitutes in Dortmund to purchase a 6 euro "day ticket" for each day they work, or face a potential fine. The city estimates that the new tax will add some 750,000 euros to its coffers each year.

這項新的「歡愉稅」，要求多特蒙市娼妓每天工作前，得先買6歐元的「日券」，否則就可能被罰款。該市評估，這項新稅每年可為市庫增加約75萬歐元收入。

"Dortmund has financial problems like many cities in Germany," city spokesman Michael Meinders told Reuters. "We considered several sex taxes but this was the most practical proposal."

「多特蒙就像德國其他城市一樣都有財務問題」，市府發言人曼德斯說，「我們考慮過幾種性工作稅，但這是最務實的提議。」

The new tax went into effect in August but the day tickets have not been available until December.

新稅8月起生效，但日券直到12月才推出。

An alternative proposal was to charge a 1 or 2 euro fee to anyone entering Dortmund’s red-light district, but this idea got little political support, Meinders said.

另一項提議是對每個進入多特蒙紅燈區的人收取1或2歐元規費，但這個構想不太受政壇支持，曼德斯說。

Such taxes are not unusual in Germany where prostitution is legal and sex workers must pay tax on their income. Cologne introduced a 150 euro "pleasure tax" on sex workers in 2004 and later added a 6 euro day tax option for part-time prostitutes.

這類稅在德國並不稀奇，德國賣淫是合法的，性工作者的收入必須繳稅。科隆市2004年就對性工作者徵收150歐元的「歡愉稅」，之後又針對兼差的娼妓增加6歐元日稅的選項。

◎新聞辭典

pare, whittle （+down, away）：動詞，逐步削減。例句：I have to pare down my expenses to pay the mortgage.（我得減少開支來付貸款。）

coffer：名詞，保險庫、金庫。例句：The National health insurance financial "black hole" will drain out the state coffers.（全民健保財務黑洞將榨乾國庫。）