Prostitution is legal in Germany. Prostitutes may work as regular employees with contract, though the vast majority work independently. Brothels are registered businesses that do not need a special brothel license; if food and alcoholic drinks are offered, the standard restaurant license is required.

Prostitutes have to pay income taxes and even have to charge VAT for their services, to be paid to the tax office. In practice, prostitution is a cash business and taxes are not always paid, though enforcement has recently been strengthened. The Länder​ North Rhine-Westfalia​, Baden Württemberg and Berlin have initiated a system where prostitutes have to pay their taxes in advance, a set amount per day, to be collected and paid to tax authorities by the brothel owners. North Rhine-Westfalia charges 25 euros per day per prostitute, while Berlin charges 30 euros. In May 2007 authorities were considering plans for a uniform country-wide system charging 25 euros per day.

The first city in Germany to introduce an explicit prostitution tax was Cologne. The tax was initiated early in 2004 by the city council led by a coalition of the conservative CDU and the leftist Greens. This tax applies to striptease​, peep shows​, porn cinemas, sex fairs, massage parlors, and prostitution. In the case of prostitution, the tax amounts to 150 euros per month and working prostitute, to be paid by brothel owners or by privately working prostitutes. (The area Geestemünder Straße mentioned above is exempt.) Containment of prostitution was one explicitly stated goal of the tax. In 2006 the city took in 828,000 euros through this tax.

Until 2002, prostitutes and brothels were technically not allowed to advertise, but that prohibition was not enforced. The Bundesgerichtshof ruled in July 2006 that, as a consequence of the new prostitution law, advertising of sexual services is no longer illegal.Before the law and still now, many newspapers carry daily ads for brothels and for women working out of apartments. Many prostitutes and brothels have websites on the Internet. In addition, sex shops and newsstands sell magazines specializing in advertisements of prostitutes ("Happy Weekend", "St Pauli Nachrichten", "Sexy" and many more).

Every city has the right to zone off certain areas where prostitution is not allowed (Sperrbezirk), enforced with fines. The various cities handle this very differently. In Berlin street prostitution is allowed everywhere, and Hamburg allows street prostitution near the Reeperbahn during certain times of the day. In Munich and Leipzig, street prostitution is forbidden almost everywhere, and Leipzig even has a local law that allows police to fine customers who solicit prostitution in public. In most smaller cities, the Sperrbezirk includes the immediate city center as well as residential areas.

Foreign women from European Union countries are allowed to work as prostitutes in Germany. Women from many other countries can obtain three-month tourist visas for Germany without problems. Many of them then work in prostitution; this is technically illegal, as the tourist visa does not include a work permit.

Pimping, admitting prostitutes under the age of eighteen to a brothel, and influencing persons under the age of twenty-one to take up or continue work in prostitution, are illegal. It is also illegal to buy sex from any person younger than 18. (Before 2008 this age limit was 16.) This law also applies to Germans traveling abroad, to combat child prostitution occurring in the context of sex tourism.

Children At Risk Between Eastern And Western European Borders

In Germany, UNICEF and ECPAT criticize the authorities for not keeping the promises made in November 2003.  After the publication of the original KARO report, a multinational working group committed itself to an extensive program of work to combat sexual exploitation in the border region.  On the German side, no progress was made - neither the promised awareness raising campaign nor crime prevention initiatives at the border.  In addition, ECPAT was not given the opportunity to train German police and border personnel.

Stolen Youth: Child Prostitution Plagues German-Czech Border 

The children wait by supermarkets, restaurants and gas stations along the Czech motorways just across the border from Germany.  Women offer young children less than six years old to the sex tourists, whereas the older children are usually accompanied by men or male teenagers.  But eight-year-olds come along on their own and do their own negotiations about payment and sexual practices.

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