Axe The Period Pants Tax
In January 2021, the UK Government finally announced that it would recognise that period products are not a luxury product and removed the tax from period products like disposable pads and tampons. However, the 20% tax was not removed from sustainable and reusable options such as period pants. People with periods that are trying to reduce their plastic waste are being disadvantaged and having to pay a higher price for doing so. In turn, this means that the Government are actively discouraging people from switching to sustainable options despite the huge environmental issues we currently face on a global level.
We call on the UK Government to review this and remove the 20% VAT on ALL period products, ensuring that sustainable options such as reusable, washable period pants are included in the legislation.
Every person who has a period will use approximately 15,000 single-use disposable pads and tampons during their life time - all of which are sent to our landfills or end up in our waterways. One pair of reusable period pants can replace approximately 200 single-use disposables reducing waste by up to 99.5%.
Removing 20% from reusable, washable period pants makes them much easier to access. Eco-friendly period products should not be a luxury and people with periods deserve to be able to access sustainable period products.
Please join us in calling the government to remove the tax on ALL period products and sign this petition.