Petition to remove tax on tampons, pads etc.

[Brownlow]

Here's a petition for all of us to sign. I was not aware of the fact that tampons, sanitary pads etc. were taxed.

change.org/en-GB/petitions/...

[Hidden]

Just signed x

[Brownlow in reply to Hidden]

Awright! Cheers Dave!

[Hidden in reply to Brownlow]

? I'm confused!

[Brownlow in reply to Hidden]

just making a joke about David Beckham signing the petition. I saw his pic and forgot it was you! Hope you're well today. x

[Hidden in reply to Brownlow]

Oh !

Can you imagine if David did sign a petition for sanitary protection !

[Brownlow in reply to Hidden]

Oh I thought he did! I'm confused! hee hee!

At least he can choose whether to grow that beard or waste his pennies on VAT free razors. I reckon there's a stinge binge going on at chez Becks!

[Impatient]

Crumbs I took part in the previous campaign which resulted in the tax being reduced to 5%. The government's argument is that they provide contraception free of charge to stop periods, so it's a woman's choice for the most part to not avail themselves of the that freebie and therefore need to use sanitary hygiene products.

It doesn't take in to account the fact that a number or women react badly to hormones used to stop periods and would rather not take them.

Whereas those who are incontinent do get zero VAT rated items for the collection of bladder and bowel waste under the disability relief system.

If you are registered disabled then you can apply to claim back vat on most items that you buy to assist you in having a better quality of life due to disability, tools, gadgets, clothing and footwear, furniture and all sorts of items that you ordinarily wouldn't need to purchase, but due to a disability you do find that they enhance your ability to cope in some way.

If you can get by with incontinence pads instead of sanitary towels, that would be cheaper as they are VAT free.

Toilet Paper is ESSENTIAL regardless, and yet still subject to full VAT. WHY?

It took so long to get the 5% concession, I cannot see the government zero rating it. We all use much more toilet paper too so perhaps campaigning for that to be reduced in VAT would be a better next step. We will still be using loo roll every day till our dying day, but using a lot more if we do have very heavy long lasting bleeds that often come with having endo and other gynae conditions.

If you have endo and are registered disabled by it then there are a lot of things that you can claim reduced or zero rated VAT on when you purchase them. The guidelines are on

customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channel...

Still excludes loo roll and sanitary hygiene products though, as they are classed as dressings, like bandages and so on.

The original campaign was for zero rating, so getting the 5% was a big step in the right direction and a bit of a compromise. It did make a noticeable change in prices at the time.