The new Ateco 2025 code for “the provision of prostitution services”. Could this be a step towards reforming the regulation of the sex industry in Italy?

The Ateco 2025 classification of Italian economic activities has introduced a new code to regularise the tax status of sex workers. This measure aims to promote fiscal equity and bring an ‘unobserved’ market sector into the light of day. Moreover, this legislative initiative paves the way for long-awaited reform of the regulation of sexual services in our country, highlighting several inconsistencies inherent in the adopted abolitionist model. A key issue is the lack of regulatory frameworks to protect services that are taxed as work yet not formally recognised by the legal system. In line with various European models, a new hybrid regulatory model has been proposed. The objective is to improve the circumstances of sex workers without creating adverse outcomes for others, and to bring the tax regulation of these activities into an inclusive and coherent system.