Do prostitutes have to pay income tax and national insurance?
Yes. Only solicitation is illegal, sex acts involving money paid to one party are legal. Whether it is moral or not is open to debate. If the activities of a prostitute or any other person deriving income from prostitution are organised in such a way as to constitute a trade or profession (ie massage palor, brothels etc), the profits are liable to income tax. This was confirmed by the ‘Miss Whiplash’ case, CIR v Aken [1990] 63TC395.
