Tampon Tax

In the United States, sales taxes on bare necessities are often exempt or lowered. These necessities usually include food, medication and medical services, with some states even extending to clothes, condoms and diapers. In North Carolina, there are tax exemptions or reductions on groceries, food stamps and medical services, but there is no such break for menstrual products.

The “Tampon Tax” is a term commonly used to refer to the sales tax put on menstrual products. Before 2020, 15 states had menstrual products exempt from sales taxes. This means that, along with the 15 states that wrote a bill exempting menstrual products from sales taxes and the 5 states that have no sales taxes at all, only two fifths of the states in the U.S. did not have a Tampon Tax.

On average, someone who menstruates will spend $18,000 in their lifetime on period products. This high price makes it difficult for many people to afford them, leading to people having to miss school and work due to bleeding. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, this cost became a problem for even more people. To help with the impact of COVID-19, former President Trump signed into effect the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020.

The CARES Act encompassed many things, most notably the stipends that most people received. Another aspect of the CARES Act, however, was classifying menstrual products as medical products so that they could be purchased with a flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA). While this only helped people who were employed, it was a step in the right direction.

On May 11, 2023, the Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 ended. With the PHE no longer in effect, many of the bills signed into effect during the pandemic will soon end. While people who depended on FSA or HSA to purchase menstrual products will no longer have the option, many states added menstrual products to their tax exempt list. Since 2020, 10 additional states have exempted menstrual products from sales tax. This means that, as of 2023, 30 of the 50 states do not have a Tampon Tax.

North Carolina, however, has not followed suit with its northern neighboring states. Right now, menstrual products in North Carolina are billed with a state sales tax of 4.75% and additional local taxes that are between 2% and 3%. While North Carolina does not have the highest Tampon Tax (with Mississippi having the highest at 7%), it should still be added to the growing list of states that offer exemptions.

As of September, Texas is the latest state to pass a bill that exempts menstrual products from sales tax. The bill, which was signed June 6th, went into effect on the first of this month. This new bill not only exempts all menstrual products from sales tax, but also includes maternity clothes, breast milk pumping products, diapers and baby bottles.

In the past decade, the stance against the Tampon Tax has grown. With the PHE no longer in effect, it begs the question of whether the fight will continue to speed up or whether it has hit a plateau. At the moment, no bills have passed the Senate in North Carolina to eradicate the Tampon Tax.

By Riley Heeb, Opinion Editor

Graphic by Shae-Lynn Henderson, EIC