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Proponents of tax exemption argue that tampons, [[sanitary napkins]], [[menstrual cups]] and other products which serve the basic menstrual cycle constitute unavoidable necessities for women and should be classified alongside other unavoidable, tax-exempt necessities, such as groceries and personal medical items.<ref name="WaPo: Garcia"/><ref name="USAT: NY"/> The [[BBC]] estimates that women need to use [[feminine hygiene]] products for about a week each month for about 30 years.<ref name="BBC: international"/> While [[sales tax]] policy varies across jurisdictions, these products were typically taxed at the same rate as non-essential goods, such as in the United States, while other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Ireland, reduced or eliminated their general [[consumption tax]] on sanitary products.<ref name="USAT: NY"/><ref name="BBC: international"/> When asked about equivalent exemptions for men, proponents argue that no male products, [[condoms]] included, are comparable to feminine hygiene products, since menstruation is biological and "[[feminine hygiene]] is not a choice".<ref name="WaPo: Garcia"/> However, others argue that other basic necessities such as [[toilet paper]] are still taxed in many countries, for example in the UK at 20%.<ref name="Robertson2015"/> As the vast majority of consumers of feminine hygiene products are women, the increased cost has been criticized as being discriminatory against women.<ref name="Hinckley Journal of Politics:Public Discourse of Policies Concerning Menstrual Taboo"/> The tampon tax is not a special tax levied directly on feminine hygiene products.<ref name="USAT: NY"/>
Since about 2004, many countries have abolished or reduced sales taxes for tampons and pads, including Kenya, Canada, India, Colombia, Australia, Germany, and Rwanda.
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== Tax law by jurisdiction ==
Below are examples of countries that have or used to have a tampon tax (ordered by most recent changes to the country's tax system first):
* Belize will eliminate the General Sales Tax on feminine hygiene products on April 1, 2023. They will also no longer be subject to importation duties.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Zoila Palma |title=Belize becomes 2nd country in region to eliminate taxes from women’s sanitary products |url=https://www.breakingbelizenews.com/2023/03/04/belize-becomes-2nd-country-in-region-to-eliminate-taxes-from-womens-sanitary-products/ |access-date=5 March 2023 |work=Breaking Belize News |date=4 March 2023}}</ref>
* The tampon tax was abolished in Britain on 1 January 2021, following Britain's departure from the EU, meaning there is now a zero rate of VAT applying to women's sanitary products.<ref name="tampon-tax-abolished">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/01/tampon-tax-abolished-brexit-allows-treasury-scrap-vat-sanitary/|title=Tampon tax abolished as Brexit allows Treasury to scrap VAT on sanitary products|newspaper=The Telegraph|first=Amy|last=Jones|date=1 January 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite news|date=1 January 2021|title=Activists cheer as 'sexist' tampon tax is scrapped|language=en-gb|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55502252|first=Mary-Ann|last=Russon}}</ref>
* Rwanda removed their VAT on all sanitary products on 10 December 2019. The change was made in response to school absence and dropouts caused by 18% of Rwandan women and girls being unable to attend school or work due to not being able to afford feminine hygiene products.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationaldevelopment/2020/01/17/rwanda-removes-vat-on-sanitary-products-as-the-fight-to-end-period-poverty-continues/|title=Rwanda removes VAT on sanitary products, as the fight to end period poverty continues|last=Isimbi|first=Ynis|date=2020-01-17|website=LSE International Development|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-16}}</ref>
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