Beyond Decriminalization: Sex-work, Human Rights and a New ...

PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETYfinancial stability. In order to pay into RRSPs, for example, a person requires what is termed ‘contributionroom’ in the ITA. “Contribution room” is calculated at 18 percent of earned income reportedto Revenue Canada for the prior year. Therefore, a person who does not claim any income is noteligible to make RRSP contributions. Obviously, if they do not pay tax, they do not need the taxrelief that an RRSP payment provides, but as a consequence, they are unable to take advantage of thecustomary vehicle that many citizens use to plan for their retirement.One participant described the difficulty of planning for a financially secure future when notclaiming income:A. If you don’t want to pay your tax on, you can’t put your money in the bank. So youalways have your money and you have to think about where you put your money?Do you hide it in your house? Well that’s not always a good idea, because you usuallyhave some shady fucking boyfriends, or some shady friends or there’s people around.So it’s not a safe thing to have this kind of money . . . . Well then you tend to carryit around with you all the time. Well, what happens when you carry money around?You spend it . . . . The fact that you can’t make an effort to save your money, withoutpaying tax on it, that is a huge stumbling block, right there.- female massage parlour owner, former sex workerOne participant described the advantages of a legitimate income:A. And then you could become legitimate too and then you could then, like, buy a house.And then you could do this and then you could do that. If you are not paying taxes,you can’t prove your income. You cannot do those things.- female off-street in-call sex workerAnother talked about a sex worker she knows who pays income tax and has achieved financial security:A. I met this woman a long time ago in C****. She’s still up there . . . She was, was aprostitute in C****. Everybody knew and she always filed income tax, every year . . .She claimed all her money and paid her taxes and in the end she got a lot more outof it . . . So she’s got her pension and that’s – think it is imperative to have pension– plus all the extra money that she made when she bought the house and her propertyand all that now and she’s set for life. . . . After a while you it was just like okay, that’sthe town prostitute. It was just like nothing any more . . . Yeah, she still shopped at thecorner grocery store, she still raised the kids, just a regular woman. The whole towngot to see her finally. What a warrior for women’s’ rights – that beautiful lady!- female off-street in-call sex workerWhile higher paid sex workers commented that paying taxes would make it easier for them topurchase houses and other assets, female street-level sex workers emphasized the advantage of gainingaccess to government benefits, such as the Canada Pension Plan:A. I don’t want to be 65 and out there working . . . you have nothing to fall back on to.You know, it is one of the disadvantages about it. If we had a union, and we all paytaxes, and by rights we should have something to fall back onto. Especially [in] ourtax bracket. You know, we should be able to have something at the end of all that.- female street-level sex workers Supra note 1, s. 146: Contribution room refers to the maximum amount a tax payer can deduct from contributions made toRRSPs. The calculation is based, in part, on earned income from the previous year and unused RRSP deduction room from the previousyear. Unused RRSP deduction room is a tax payer’s RRSP deduction limit for the year minus the amount deducted for RRSPcontributions for that year.162