You have 0 items in your cart
Recently I came across a petition that I needed to sign! It was a petition calling for the UK Government to stop taxing Women’s sanitary products due to it being categorised as a ‘non-essential’ luxury product. I had no idea this was happening! I had always thought that tampons were so expensive, and being a student I have to budget in these sort of things with the limited money I have whilst men are apparently getting off scott-free with their non-taxed razors…excuse me, what!!? Do you know what else isn’t taxed as a luxury item? Helicopters, alcoholic jellies, exotic meats and Jaffa Cakes – to name a few.
It seems insane to me that a product that helps women manage something that they cannot control is being disregarded as something that is essential to their health and hygiene. In 1973 a tax of 17.5% was placed on these sanitary products, only being lowered to 5% in 2000. But still, the Government receives approximately £45 million a year on these products alone; this may seem like a lot of money, and may leave some people wondering if we can afford to lose such an amount of money being generated into our economy – but let me tell you that we can! This £45 million is dwarfed by the approximate £593.5 billion overall tax revenue collected annually by our Government; which amounts to only 0.0076% or 76p in every $10,000.
Hilarious text screenshots of boyfriends buying their girlfriends tampons
Petition founder Laura Coryton explains that:“tax implements a monetary discouragement that lessens a product’s accessibility and affordability. This is why it is specifically allocated to potentially damaging products such as alcohol or cigarettes in an attempt to discourage the public from consuming them in dangerous quantities. It is therefore completely nonsensical to stand by a tax that actively damages the public’s access to healthcare and constrains their ability to consume such a vital range of products.” If you take into account the positive outcomes of ending tax on women’s sanitary products, it’s easy to see that it far outweighs any negatives.
If you too want to sign the petition click here. The petition only needs a few thousand more signatures to reach their target of 200,000 and considering there are tens of millions of women in the UK it shouldn’t be hard. You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and Twitter for updates!
#FreePeriods #EndTamponTax
By Talia Maguire
