5/23/2011
The oldest profession in the world could be subject to the newest tax measure in Nevada if Democratic state legislators have their way.
In an attempt to fund government services during a lingering recession, the Democrats are proposing a 1% tax on services, including those being offered at the legal brothels in Nevada. The legislators said that hundreds of millions of dollars could potentially be added to the state’s coffers if their proposed measure is approved. These could then be used to pay for K-12 schools and colleges, as well as social services.
Lawmakers in the past have refused to include brothels in any tax measure for fear that it would further cast a semblance of legitimacy to legal sex trade in the rural counties of the state.
According to Marilyn Kirkpatrick, a Democrat from North Las Vegas and Taxation Committee Chairwoman, that there is a need to consider the inclusion of as many people as possible in this new tax measure.
Kirkpatrick, as well as other lawmakers supporting Assembly Bill 569, which would implement the “transaction tax,” said that the more services it will include, the lower the rate would be, which makes the tax fairer and less onerous to any one industry.
They are also hesitant to start making a lot of industry-specific exemptions for fear that it will spur more business to request to be excluded and weaken the effort to implement the tax measure as uniformly as possible.
When left as it is, the measure would cover almost every service imaginable, from haircuts to car repairs and labor on plumbing, and from consultants and accountants to legal prostitution. The bill is estimated to generate around $566 million during the first 18 months in operation. This was revealed Thursday during the hearing on the transaction tax.
