So Tampons Are Taxed, But Rogaine Isn’t? What You Need to Know About the Recent “Tampon Tax” Law Suit

Do you consider tampons a luxury or a necessity? If you’re a woman who gets her period every month, you would most likely say the latter. But sadly, 40 states around the country disagree. In the United States, products that are considered necessities, like food and medical supplies, are usually exempt from state sales taxes. And while tampons and pads often shockingly do not fall into that category, a number of other less-crucial items enjoy tax-exempt status in many states, including sunscreen, ChapStick, anti-dandruff shampoo, Rogaine, and, yes, sometimes even Viagra.

Recently, women have started to protest the now-dubbed “tampon tax” around the world. After facing increased pressure in France, lawmakers passed a vote to cut down taxes on feminine hygiene products from 20 percent to 5.5 percent. And on July 1 of last year, Canada officially halted sales tax on tampons, pads, and menstrual cups. In the United States, the issue is also gaining traction. California state legislator Assembly Member Cristina Garcia is pushing a bill that seeks to end the tampon tax in her home state. “We are being taxed for being women,” Garcia stated when she announced the bill. And in February, New York State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and State Senator Sue Serino introduced similar legislation in Albany. “To consider that we exempt cupcakes and circus performances from the sales tax in New York State, but not feminine hygiene products, is beyond comprehension,” said Serino.

Last month, The New York Times published a piece by its editorial board calling for the end of the discriminatory tax, while in a recent Daily Show segment on what female voters are drawn to in this election, correspondent Jessica Williams declared, “No tax on tampons, how about that?” And in an interview in January with YouTube star Ingrid Nilsen, even President Obama supported the feminist movement. “I have no idea why states would tax these as luxury items,” he said. “I suspect it’s because men were making the laws when those taxes were passed.”

Perhaps tired of seeing anti-tampon tax legislation fall apart in some states—such as in Utah, where it was recently voted down by an all-male committee—five women in New York filed a class action lawsuit this morning against the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. The five plaintiffs—which include Margo Seibert, a cofounder of Racket, an organization that donates feminine products to homeless shelters around the city—argue that the state’s tampon tax is discriminatory toward women and outdated. “A tax on tampons and sanitary pads is a tax on women,” reads the suit. “Defendants should be required to follow the law, and return the many millions of dollars they took illegally at the expense of women’s health.”

Seibert was inspired to start Racket after hearing stories from women who lived in shelters about how difficult it is for them to have their periods while being homeless. Eventually, her organization led her to advocate for the tampon tax cause, which she argues unfairly affects poorer women the most. “For the people who can afford it, it’s not the biggest amount of money,” said Siebert over the phone. “But if you’re talking $75 to $100 [a year] for a low-income woman—spending that much and then also being taxed on it, it’s huge.”

Even if the tampon tax is successfully challenged in states around the country, women’s drugstore purchases will still end up being higher than most men’s. Sadly, it’s recently been revealed that products sold toward women are charged a higher cost than those same items targeted toward men—think razors, deodorant, toys, even clothing. This hidden “pink tax” ultimately means personal care products marketed to women cost an average of 13 percent more than those marketed to men. Perhaps it’s time these legislators and protesters add the pink tax to their list of causes, too. Oh, and of course, let’s not also forget that pesky issue of earning 79 cents for every dollar a man makes.

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