Call it “the pink tax,” “the tampon tax” or “the period tax.” Critics call it a regressive if not unconstitutional tax on medically necessary items – not to mention a clear gender bias. Supporters don’t call tampon taxes much (“luxury items” is sometimes mentioned) but do usually point to potential lost tax revenues if their state eliminates the sales tax on feminine hygiene products.
Eliminating that tax, though, is what more states are doing – with a sizable number of holdouts remaining. Where are feminine products tax-free and where are they not?
Tax-free in most states – barely
Thirty states (including the NOMAD states that don’t have a statewide sales tax) do not impose sales tax on such feminine hygiene products as tampons, sanitary pads and other menstrual care products. Minnesota was first to do eliminate tampon taxes, in 1981; Texas was among the most recent.
Momentum to remove pink taxes has generally increased among states in the past 10 years or so. The debate in South Carolina before that state removed feminine hygiene products from sales tax, effective May 2024, seems typical. Against the argument of tampon tax being regressive and unfair, economists forecast that the state could have lost $5.9 million and the local governments about $1.4 million in tax revenue if the tax is abolished. Historically South Carolina has also collected more than $4 billion in sales tax annually.
According to the site of advocacy group Period Law, 20 states still tax feminine hygiene products: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Recent developments in the 20
Strong state-level grassroots efforts to kill pink taxes are underway in Georgia and Missouri. Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia and Alabama are working on bills to eliminate the tampon tax. Similar bills appeared recently – and often died – in Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Despite many states’ moving toward eliminating the pink tax, the issue remains one debated in company with agendas. North Dakota lawmakers said their failed tampon tax bill didn’t provide “true tax relief” universally. Utah axed its tampon tax in 2019 but reinstated it the following year after outcry that the law also raised taxes on many other items.
And the law to eliminate South Carolina’s tampon tax also passed only after being paired in legislation with a tax break on for-profit golf club memberships.
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