EDITORIAL – Pimping doesn’t pay … taxes?

Pimp’n ain’t easy — and it’s about to get harder.

Soon pimps and other sex workers might… Pimp’n ain’t easy — and it’s about to get harder.

Soon pimps and other sex workers might find themselves at the mercy of the Internal Revenue Service.

Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, wants the IRS to target pimps and sex traffickers for evading taxes. The senator’s proposal would mean that pimps would be fined and slapped with lengthy jail sentences for failing to file employment forms and withholding taxes from the women who work for them.

According to the Associated Press, certain tax crimes would become felonies, upping jail sentences from one year to 10 years and increasing monetary fines accordingly. Massage parlor owners would also be targeted under the proposed measures.

While prostitution and sex trafficking are largely illegal, it’s often hard for officials to make arrests or hand out fines because of the elusive nature of workers.

The suggested measures against sex workers are similar to those taken against gangster Al Capone beginning in the late 1920s. Capone earned around $105 million ($60 million from alcohol sales alone), but described himself as a furniture dealer. Unable to convict Capone on criminal charges — he worked through a front man and had many of his assets listed under other people — the government finally arrested Capone in 1931 for tax evasion.

While it’s hard to prove that someone is pimping, it’s easier to prosecute on tax evasion. And with luck, the information uncovered in an audit might uncover proof of other illegal behavior. After all, claiming that your main source of income is your minimum wage fast food gig while you’re rolling around in a brand new Lexus might raise some questions.

So is it really a good idea to send IRS agents after pimps? Perhaps.

According to Sen. Grassley, pimps and traffickers are “exploiting society’s poorest girls and women for gain.” While we’re not going to take a side in the debate over legalizing prostitution, any way the government can step in and protect the helpless is OK by us.

Prosecuting those behind hard-to-prove crimes through alternate avenues could be effective — it worked for one of the most notorious criminals in American history.

Another advantage is that pimps potentially could be put behind bars for many years without testimony from working girls, who are often intimidated into silence.

We wonder, though, if this new initiative would stretch thin the IRS’s manpower and hurt the government. However, while many talk about the growing violence in our society, it’s good to see people putting down guns and using their brains to indict hard-to-catch criminals.

If the government is just out to make some more money, then it should just make prostitution legal and collect taxes. But if this is really a way to catch criminals engaging in illegal activity, then it’s nice to see the government trying other means to end crime.