Recently, Washington D.C. has taken steps to being the next city to eliminate the tampon tax and honestly it’s about time. D.C. will be following New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut (woohoo!), Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Illinois, where steps to have this tax eliminated have already been put in place. (Places like Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Alaska don’t have sales tax to begin with so they never had a tampon tax.)
(this map was only as of June 2015, so Illinois is still labeled as taxing.)
Unfortunately, since every girl gets her period and – most girls – use tampons during that time (because pads are basically pillows) D.C. will be losing a lot of revenue… like $3 million worth. This is because the “Tampon Tax” as we’re calling it, is just a broad term for a tax on tampons, diapers, and other feminine products that are necessities, and D.C.’s current tax on these is 5.75 percent. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not a huge tax, but it adds up.
This budget change will not be in effect for another year (October 2017), but hey, at least D.C. is doing some proactive. We have D.C. council member Anita Bonds to thank, who authored the legislation that Mayor Bowser is to sign. Bowser says, “Women, babies, and persons with disabilities who need these products should not be taxed for natural bodily functions.” President Obama agrees, too and believe it is the duty of the state legislatures to recognize this unfair taxation. In fact, when Obama learned that tampons were taxed because they were seen as “luxury goods” he said, “I have to tell you, I have no idea why states would tax these as luxury items. I suspect it’s because men were making the laws when those were passed.” And he’s right. At this point, it boils down to an argument of sexism and inequality.
Also! For an added bonus, keep in mind that Viagra is not taxed because it’s “medically essential.” So no, your period is not a medical condition. Can’t you just hold it in?