The tampon tax is going

See www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4097390-Latest-and-probably-last-Tampon-Tax-allocations

And earlier threads about Tampon Tax www.mumsnet.com/SearchArch?mustmatch=tampon+tax&dontmatch=&nickname=&src_displ_option=s_t_d_t&fromDate=&toDate=&topicmode=chs&chosentops=5365

The original campaign was about the symbolism ie that the EU said women's sanitory products were luxury items.

The campaign got a lot of support and the UK Government said they would reduce VAT to 5% which is the minimum the EU allows.

So women's sector groups campaign that that 5% should be set aside as a fund for women's groups. But needless to say in the early days most money went to large organisation on a "women's project". It never really filtered down although after a lot of campaigns then then allocates a small amount to a 2nd tier women's group to distribute to small groups. ie the administration of this that could have been taken on by the Government will come out of the grant.

But as said up thread, no way will the Government come up with alternative funding. And anyway they only give it to large groups so it is always as an add on.

It is never used for what it really needed - core funding. Without core funding women's groups are in perpetual stop start mode. wasting money on expensive job ads, interviewing, inducting, and then in no time at all contracts come to an end.

As others have said it was originally the full rate so 20% or so depending on the rate at the time. For an item that has never been a luxury.

It might be more symbolic than cost saving now but it is still right to remove it.

EU law requires members to tax tampons and sanitary towels at 5% if that's not an EU issue, I don't know what is.

EU law requires members to tax basically everything at 5%. 5% is the minimum VAT level.

Tampons and sanitary towels aren't penalised by the EU - they just don't have an exemption from standard VAT rules. In many countries they get the same minimum 5% as other necessities like food.

The UK had a historic pre-EU legacy 0% rate for certain items (most non-luxury food and books, mainly), which the EU rules permitted to be retained for those items, but tampons were never part of that 0% rate. And lowering any item to less than 5% is not permitted.

Basically, UK women were getting a much better VAT deal than most of the rest of the EU. Their food was taxed at 0% and their tampons at 5%. In the rest of the EU both food and tampons would be 5% (or more). And food expenditure is much higher than tampon expenditure.

Like Maya Forstater, I'm very cynical about the "period poverty" thing. Scrapping the very-low VAT level on tampons will have no real effect - hence corporate and TRA enthusiasm for it as a "yay we're feminists!" signalling device. (Recall that 19-year-old Labour fool who's name I've mercifully forgotten "campaigning" on it).

She recently said something on twitter how all these things like "period poverty" and "hygiene poverty" are basically distraction devices to stop you looking at the fundamental issue - poverty.

Quite interesting to see Women’s Sanitary Products is the term used in the official guidance too

My understanding of this is fairly similar to Veterinari’s.
Historically when the UK joined the EEC in 1971, it had to declare which products were taxable or not and the “nots” couldn’t be changed don’t ask me about zero-rated/exempt because I can’t remember and sanitary products were classed as a luxury and thus liable to VAT.
Labour reduced the rate from standard to 5% in 2000 because that was the lowest it could go at the time without getting agreement from the rest of the EU as well.
Conservatives announced that revenue from sanitary products would go to women’s charities in 2015 and then in 2016 Cameron got the rest of the EU to agree to change the classification by 2022.
If the EU ref vote hadn’t gone to Leave, there would probably have been enough time in the EU Parliament etc to get it changed by now - time that has obviously been eaten up by Brexit.
So Brexit is a Pyrrhic victory as far as tampon tax goes, because as @Veterinari says the costs of Brexit far outweigh the savings of 5%.
Also, the allocation of the 5% tax revenue was a completely internal to the UK decision, both in terms of whether it should be allocated to women’s charities and which ones.
Ireland made different decisions about the tax treatment of sanitary products somewhere along the way that it was entitled to keep and so wasn’t affected by the EU’s VAT directive.

Good. Now the revenue it raised can no longer be used for pushing anti-women ideology.

Regardless of who's made the decision.

If the only benefit to Bexit is saving us all £40 over our lifetimes, and that is already offset by reduced GDP, and reduced oversight of maternity and other women's legislative protections, I'll probably not bother to celebrate too wildly

The tax was only reduced to 5% after years of tireless campaigning, and the money was originally supposed to go to women's frontline services but ended up going to charities such as Life.
I'm glad to see the back of it.

[quote Neversleepingever]@Veterinari EU law requires members to tax tampons and sanitary towels at 5% if that's not an EU issue, I don't know what is.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55502252[/quote]
@Neversleepingever

Not since 2016!

This is just more UK gov propaganda

They've been needlessly taxing us for nearly 5 years and are announcing thus now as a desperate 'benefit' of BREXIT. It isn't

qz.com/642811/the-eu-will-finally-allow-member-states-to-scrap-their-tampon-tax/

Ok I just checked dds packet it says made in Slovakia

So what will brexit mean for standards and importing of these products?

Yes, they agreed a "deal" in 2016, which was due to come into force in 2022, so we couldn't have removed it before now.
I'm curious as to how Ireland have done.

www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-35834142

Exactly!! The EU announced (back in 2016 I think) that countries could make their own decisions on this, ironically heavily pushed by the UK

We could have abolished it a few years ago, the government chose to hold on to it & announce it now purely so they can say we’re already benefitting from brexit. It’s a classic ‘announce a “quick win” when trying to unite people behind change’ strategy

@Veterinari EU law requires members to tax tampons and sanitary towels at 5% if that's not an EU issue, I don't know what is.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55502252

While I think it is a disgrace that sanitary protection is not deemed an essential, it should be noted that a decent proportion (I don't have the exact figures sorry but over £40million) of the revenue raised from the tampon tax was put into women's charities.
I used to work for women's aid and they received funding from the tampon tax to employ extra support workers and improve the refuge (just a couple of examples). I wonder whether such important and crucial funding will continue in absence of this tax, and if not, where will the funding for these services come from?

Just because you don’t need an applicator to insert a tampax, some of us do. For me, it is nothing about flow, but without the applicator, I just can’t get it in the right place and I know I am not the only one in my friends who struggles with this

Obviously everyone is different. I do however believe though that there is a definite attempt within the marketing and thre production where they create a need then miraculously also create the solution. Be it applicators to counteract their shitty tampon ( likets are much smoother and easier to insert. They also expand width ways as opposed to lengthways like tampax) i think the way tampax is designed if u hadn't got it in exactly, you'd know about it more so than with other brands. They also panic you about smelling the provide sone expensive cotton feel memory foam sensitive solution fir when the scented crap burns your vag.

Obviously I know there are people who can only use certain types hence I dont advocate fir their removal in the slightest.

But I do wonder if in some cases marketing and shitty designs has knocked the confidence if its customers knowledge about their own body and encouraging them to part with ££ for problems related not to our usage or our bodies but their shitty designs..

This is another case of the UK gov dressing up a 'BREXIT benefit', but quietly ignoring the reality that they could have reduced the price at any time and even though they're doing it now, they won't actually drop the price on the end product. So actually there's singing and dancing to about BREXIT benefits but no material change

@Housewife2010 I agree about using Reusables. Dd14 is happy to use period pants at home, but there’s no way she would change them at school and carry a used pair or even a used sanitary towel round with her for the rest of the day.

Why do some women insist that because something works for them, they are suitable for all? My mother does it repeatedly about tampax just as @Babdoc has done. Just because you don’t need an applicator to insert a tampax, some of us do. For me, it is nothing about flow, but without the applicator, I just can’t get it in the right place and I know I am not the only one in my friends who struggles with this.

Yes! Finally. According to the EU, period products are non essential. 😑 a luxury item.

I'm very pleased the UK Has abolished the 5% tax. It feels progressive that this is one of the first atrocities it amended. It will save 7p off a pack of 20 tampons and 5p off of a pack of pads. Great news.

The most important thing about this is that some people (men) are now recognising that tampons are not a luxury but a necessity.

However, I never pay full price for tampons, I always buy the ones on offer so I don't think this will save me much.

The Republic of Ireland is an EU country and does not have a tampon tax. In Scotland, sanitary products are free.
http://infacts.org/we-dont-need-to-leave-the-eu-to-scrap-the-tampon-tax/

That isn't very practical though. My 13 year old is too nervous to try tampons, so she's hardly going to be comfortable enough to try moon cups and she definitely wont want to carry used pads in her school bag

It would be nice to see all options presented in schools though when dd1 had the "talk" in school ( mums were invited too) it focused only on disposable options. I do think it would be better to have all options given and sone mythbusting.

Its not unusual to have to carry a used pad sadly as often bins are either over flowing or non existant. You then get stuck not knowing quite what to do with it ajd have to take it home with all your other rubbish if bins aren't available. Reusables u r kinda set up fir that with a wet bag etc

Shame the tax money never reakky went in ensuring school girls toilets were properly set up and maintained fir their female users

Yay, £40 a lifetime saved.
I suppose it's symbolic more than anything else.
Will a teenage girl who can't afford a 70p pack suddenly be able to afford a 67p pack?