The Government has announced VAT no will longer applies to women’s sanitary products, marking the end of the 'Tampon Tax'.
The Move is part of wider government action to End Period Poverty which includes the roll out of free sanitary products in schools, colleges and hospitals.
Removing the Tampon Tax has been made possible by the end of the transition period and freedom from EU law mandating VAT on sanitary products.
The move honours a government commitment to scrap the tax and is part of a wider strategy to make sanitary products affordable and available for all women which includes:
- January 2020’s roll out of free period products for all young people in English state schools and colleges and extension of the scheme into 2021 the
- NHS offering period products to every hospital patient who needs them (including long-term in-patients) since 2019
- the Tampon Tax Fund, established in 2015, which allocated the funds generated from VAT on period products to projects supporting vulnerable and excluded women and girls
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said:
"I’m proud that we are today delivering on our promise to scrap the tampon tax. Sanitary products are essential so it’s right that we do not charge VAT.
We have already rolled out free sanitary products in schools, colleges and hospitals and this commitment takes us another step closer to making them available and affordable for all women."
The Chancellor announced that the tampon tax was to be abolished from 1 January 2021 at March 2020 Budget. As the transition period ended on December 31st, the UK is no longer bound by the EU VAT Directive which mandates a minimum 5% tax on all sanitary products.
