The end of the “tampon tax” is near.
A bill that would end sales tax on tampons and sanitary pads was approved by the state legislature in late May, and is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
And it all happened thanks to a lawsuit filed by five Manhattanites that claimed the four-percent tax collected by the state Department of Taxation and Finance on the the products — which are not considered medical items under state law — “violates the Equal Protection Clauses of the United States and New York Constitutions.”
Margo Seibert, Jennifer Moore, Catherine O’Neil, Natalie Brasington, and Taja-Nia Henderson saw no reason why women should be paying the extra for the right to use these basic necessities.
New York is one of 40 states that levies a sales tax on pads and tampons.
More New Yorkers are finding it harder to afford the basics in the city, especially parents on a budget. And for low-income women, or women living in poverty, it’s much tougher. Sometimes, these women can’t even afford tampons and sanitary napkins, which the Electronic Benefit Transfer card (food stamps) doesn’t cover. Advocates say these women are the ones that are particularly hard-hit by the tax.
“The struggle of low-income women and sanitary products is a harsh reality. Additionally, students from low-income families cannot always rely on schools to provide them with tampons. This poses a serious potential risk to both the mental and physical health of young people in a school environment, who cannot otherwise access feminine care products,” plaintiff Catherine O’Neill noted.
These products have always been taxed and for some reason, categorized as “general merchandise,” or surprisingly, “luxury items” that the state can make revenue off of, according to the Department of Taxation and Finance and its commissioner Jerry Boone. CNN Money states that the state makes about $14 million per year from sales of tampons and sanitary pads.
Items that are considered a medical necessity, like adult diapers, and incontinence pads, foot powder, dandruff shampoo, Chapstick, and facial wash are not taxed, but medical items used only by women — tampons and sanitary pads (which the Food and Drug Administration considers a medical necessity) — have been.
This means that the average woman buying those products has been spending about $70 a year for 35 years, according to the court papers. That seems totally unfair considering that this extra money can be used for something else, like food or gas, say the advocates fighting to end the tax.
Freedom from shame
Plaintiff Margo Seibert believes that all women deserve “a shame-free relationship to their periods, regardless of socioeconomic circumstances.” She and Caroline Angell are two ladies on a mission: They aim to expose and eliminate menstrual taboos, and advocate for equal access to feminine hygiene products.
Seibert, an artist and working actor, co-founded Racket in 2015, an organization dedicated to providing low-income and homeless individuals who menstruate with the products they need, while working to combat “period shame.”
“The formation of Racket was inspired by my (and my co-founder’s) volunteer work with the homeless and the shock at hearing just how difficult the homeless period truly is — shelters are often unable to provide these products, and they are cost prohibitive,” she noted. “To top it all off, I then heard about the tampon tax through my friend and menstrual equality activist, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, and it lit a fire within me.
Discriminatory tax
“These products are an uncontested necessity for half of the population, not a luxury. A tax code that exempts Chapstick, Rogaine, Viagra, incontinence pads, yet continues to tax sanitary pads and tampons is discriminatory, plain and simple,” Seibert said. “Jennifer connected me with the lawyers forming the Class Action lawsuit and I became a plaintiff for the case, meeting the other women of New York who were equally angry and ready to take action.”
Seibert said she knew that Rosenthal and Serino also introduced similar legislation earlier this year, so it seemed like this united front on “period policy” became harder and harder to ignore.
“Although the state Senate and Assembly have passed bills to end the tax on tampons and pads with bipartisan support, the tax has not yet been repealed,” Seibert explained. “In order for the Governor to sign off on the bill, it seems we are waiting on a compromise in language that will clarify which products will be exempt. We know he is supportive — right after we filed the class action lawsuit, there was a very supportive exchange via Twitter.”
The five activists feel that taxing products that are biologically necessary is an archaic model that inherently supports further stigmatization of menstruation.
Jennifer Moore has a 13-year-old daughter and says the tampon tax is discriminatory and wrong.
“I’m fortunate enough that buying feminine hygiene products isn’t a hardship for me, personally, now, but there was a time in my life when I had to watch every penny I spent and we were just barely making it from paycheck to paycheck. For women in that circumstance, it just isn’t right or fair that they pay a tax on something as necessary as tampons, while rich men can buy Rogaine, tax-free. Women shouldn’t be taxed for being women,” she said.
Tampon refund?
“We’re thrilled to see that our lawsuit helped bring this issue to the forefront of the legislative agenda. We look forward to the end of this discriminatory tax in New York once and for all. Our case also seeks a refund for the millions of women who have had to pay this illegal tax,” said Manhattan-based attorney Zoe Salzman of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP, who is one of the lawyers on the case.
And they’re not the only ones fighting against taxing women.
A proactive city councilwoman from Queens recently discussed the menstrual inequality issue on radio station WNYC. Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland represents the 21st Council District in Queens and is the head of one of the finance committees. It seems many low-income women in her district have been having a hard time accessing tampons and sanitary pads.
Thanks to her efforts, the nation’s first free dispenser of pads and tampons was installed at a public high school — the High School for Arts and Business in Corona, Queens — last September. And, she hopes to make feminine hygiene products available in public schools city-wide, along with homeless shelters and correctional facilities.
Waiting on Cuomo
This lawsuit and new legislation could start a revolutionary across the country. So far, only three or four states don’t tax tampons. With the success of the suit, the five activists may find themselves as the new leaders of the national movement to end this unfair taxation.
“On behalf of the New York City Council, I call on Gov. Cuomo to sign without delay this amendment to the tax law, and join New York to those states and nations that have seen the light and acknowledge menstrual hygiene products as essential to a person’s health and well-being,” said Ferreras-Copeland.
Tammy Scileppi is a Queens-based freelance writer and journalist, parent, and regular contributor to New York Parenting.
