Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Where the GIT's are going -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rainy_Day_Woman who wrote (130139)	1/4/2007 10:03:01 PM
From: Augustus Gloop	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 225578

Great! A Female speaker of the House. Now every three weeks she'll be a complete bitch

To: Rainy_Day_Woman who wrote (130139)	1/4/2007 10:38:25 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 225578

mebbe you're in the wrong bidness... :) dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com Norwegian strippers can now take off the tax It's a tax dream come true for Dream Go Go dancers and their colleagues at other Norwegian striptease clubs. It's probably made a bunch of 15-year-old boys, whether at that age chronologically or just emotionally, pretty happy, too. The official word in Norway is that exotic dancing is a nontaxable art form. An Oslo district court ruled in May that stripping is art like opera or ballet. This week, Norway's High Court agreed, thereby freeing the nation's clubs from paying the country’s 25 percent value-added tax (VAT), a levy collected not only in that Scandinavian country, but across most of Europe, on goods and services when they are sold. The Times of London noted, "It was not clear whether the three judges had conducted field research before reaching their verdict." The case began when Norwegian tax authorities demanded more than 1 million crowns ($204,000 U.S.) from the Blue Angel club in Oslo in unpaid VAT. The tax collectors contended that audiences were attracted to the shows by nudity, not art. Therefore, argued tax officials, tickets to the strip clubs are subject to the tax. Lawyers for the Blue Angel contested the tax demands, arguing that when the women removed their nurse, policewomen or flamenco dancer costumes, they were demonstrating artistic flair. The clubs featuring female dancers also pointed to the country's tax -- and nudity -- double standard. Apparently, tickets for the male strip show Chippendales are exempt from the tax because of that production's artistic merit. It's unclear who made that differentiation. And I'm not sure what exactly that distinction says about the dancers, Norwegian tax officials or the country itself. But with the High Court ruling, it's all moot now. The owner of the String Show Bar in Oslo said back in May that without the tax, clubs would be able to operate with better margins. And, sure to please patrons, he didn't rule out cutting the club's 150 Norwegian crowns ($30) entry fee. Photo of Sally Rand, world famous fan dancer, who brought her review to Las Vegas in the early 1930s. (courtesy of EarlyVegas.com)