UK ‘tampon tax’ finally abolished on sanitary products

In his first budget, Rishi Sunak, the UK’s new Indian-origin Chancellor, has abolished the ‘tampon tax’ or a VAT on sanitary products, a policy which had been widely criticized for years. While unveiling the budget on Wednesday, Sunak said the tax would end at the end of the year, when the UK formally leaves the European Union (EU), reports the Metro newspaper. “I can also confirm, now that we have left the EU, that I will abolish the tampon tax. From January next year, there will be no VAT whatsoever on women’s sanitary products. I congratulate all members and right honorable members who campaigned for this,” the newspaper quoted Sunak as saying. Sanitary products were currently taxed as if they are a luxury product, rather than an essential one. The move was welcomed by campaigners. The rights group Plan International UK’s CEO Rose Caldwell said: “Today’s scrapping of the tampon tax is a landmark moment in the fight against period poverty, and it comes not a moment too soon.” (IANS)

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