Italian porn tax gets green light Family-friendly fundraiser arouses porn community ire

Rome, Italy (December 13, 2005) - Rome, December 13 - Italy has approved a controversial porn tax to stop its finances straying into the red while helping working families .

The earnings of porn superstars at the internationally successful Diva Futura porn factory - the stable that gave the world '80s porn divas Cicciolina and Moana Pozzi - will be among the hardest hit by the 25% tax .

The company run by billionaire Riccardo Schicchi, ex-husband of hardcore-sensation-turned-TV-celebrity Eva Henger, has been among the most vocal in decrying the tax as discriminatory and "an unacceptable infringement on freedom of expression" .

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Other stars like 'Italian Stallion' Rocco Siffredi - still at 41 by far the most bankable male performer - have threatened to take to the streets to protest the measure .

"The government has declared war on sex," says the high-profile actor, who has taken part in two non-porn films and says he wants to spend more time with his family .

Jessica Rizzo, a semi-retired star whose adult empire rivals Schicchi's at the pinnacle of Italy's 40 production houses, reckons the tax will raise costs to consumers of videos and magazines "by 30-50 percent." The government has taken the moral high ground by saying the tax will discourage porn consumption and pay for family-friendly policies like tax breaks on babysitters, handouts to families that have babies and workplace creches .

"And it's better to tax porn outfits than not-for-profit organisations like workers' cooperatives," one official added .

But industry insiders claim the taxman just wants a chunk of a multi-million-euro business .

Italy puts out some 400 adult films a year and has more than 2,500 sex shops ....

The continuation of this article can be found here at ANSA.it