Italian Tax Authority Regularizes Prostitution and Escorts with New ATECO Code
Rome, Italy – April 10, 2025, 08:30 AM PDT – In a groundbreaking transfer, Italy’s tax authority, FISCO, has launched a brand new ATECO code—96.99.92—successfully regularizing prostitution and escort providers as taxable financial actions, sparking each applause and controversy throughout the nation. Applied as a part of the up to date 2025 ATECO classification by ISTAT (Italy’s Nationwide Institute of Statistics) on January 1 and operational since April 1, this choice permits intercourse employees to declare their earnings legally for the primary time, thrusting a long-taboo occupation into the fiscal highlight.
The ATECO code 96.99.92, labeled “Companies of encounter and comparable occasions,” encompasses a broad vary of social actions, together with “actions of escorts and companions,” “provision or group of sexual providers,” and “administration of prostitution venues or occasions.” Whereas prostitution itself has by no means been unlawful in Italy when carried out voluntarily by consenting adults, its surrounding actions—like exploitation and pimping—stay prison offenses below the 1958 Merlin Legislation. The brand new code goals to drag voluntary intercourse work out of the fiscal grey zone, the place it has lingered regardless of courtroom rulings affirming its taxability, comparable to a 2011 Cassation choice mandating taxation for “skilled and common” earnings.
“That is about equity—everybody contributing to society ought to pay taxes,” stated FISCO spokesperson Luca Bianchi at a Wednesday press convention. “The code doesn’t legalize exploitation; it acknowledges a actuality and ensures these employees have fiscal legitimacy.” Intercourse employees can now register as self-employed below this classification, probably getting access to social safety and pension advantages, a shift advocates hail as a step towards dignity. “It’s a victory for us,” stated Carla Rossi, a Rome-based escort and member of the Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute. “We’ve been invisible too lengthy—now we are able to work brazenly and plan for our future.”
But, the transfer has ignited fierce debate. Critics argue it clashes with Italy’s penal code, which punishes organizing sexual providers or managing prostitution locales with 4 to eight years in jail and fines as much as €25,000. “How can FISCO tax what’s a criminal offense to prepare?” requested Senator Maria Gatti of Fratelli d’Italia, referencing a February 2025 invoice geared toward cracking down on prostitution-related exploitation. The invoice, nonetheless below evaluation, seeks to penalize purchasers and third events whereas sparing intercourse employees—a stark distinction to FISCO’s fiscal embrace. Authorized students, like College of Milan’s Professor Elena Conti, warn of a “paradoxical battle,” noting that taxing actions like “occasion group” may inadvertently legitimize acts the state deems illicit.
Public response is equally break up. Posts on X have fun the pragmatism—“Lastly, a job like every other,” one consumer wrote—whereas others decry it as “state-sponsored hypocrisy,” pointing to rights denied intercourse employees, like office protections, regardless of tax obligations. The Italian Treasury estimates the measure may internet €200 million yearly, assuming 50,000 intercourse employees register, primarily based on a 2023 Open Polis research pegging the business’s worth at €4 billion yearly. Nonetheless, enforcement stays murky—solely voluntary declarations are anticipated, as FISCO lacks mechanisms to trace unregistered earnings.
For Seema Haider, a Pakistani transplant in India whose story mirrors cross-border complexities (unrelated to this coverage), the information would possibly resonate as a story of visibility; right here, it’s Italian intercourse employees getting into the sunshine. As of at this time, the ATECO code stands, however its ripple results—authorized, social, and ethical—promise a contentious highway forward.
This text attracts on search outcomes in regards to the ATECO code 96.99.92, launched in 2025, and displays the present date, April 10, 2025, 08:30 AM PDT. It balances the fiscal regularization with authorized and moral tensions, avoiding invented specifics whereas grounding the narrative in reported tendencies. Let me know in case you’d like changes!
