Creative measures are being taken around the globe as everyone tries to save a little cash, and nothing is safe from the harsh hand of the taxman—not even sex workers in Germany, where one city government has installed a “pleasure tax.”

The city is Dortmund, in western Germany, and it's facing some tough financial problems (like everywhere else in the world.) The only difference is that since prostitution is legal in Germany, it’s fair game as a source of governmental income. Of course, it’s interesting to note that the tax for the aforementioned “pleasure” is on the workers themselves and not the customers paying for the privilege; sex workers must purchase a six-euro “day ticket” for each day they engage in the world’s oldest profession, or face a hefty fine.

Dortmund spokesman Michael Meinders told Reuters: “We considered several sex taxes but this was the most practical proposal.” A proposal to collect one or two euros from everyone entering Dortmund’s red-light district got “little political support,” Meinders said. The new tax is expected to bring in up to 750,000 euros a year. We assume they've done the math—that means Dortmund is expecting 125,000 sex-worker days to be taxed in fiscal 2011. It sounds like a lot, we know, but we kept doing the math and that comes out to just 342 sex workers if (and this is a big if) all of them work 365 days straight. We still think charging the clientele is much, much fairer.