M&S’ ‘Say Pants to the Tax’ campaign has progressed as for the first time ever, the government is keeping the tax on period pants under review.
For the past two weeks, M&S and WUKA have been urging the government to remove the VAT that applies to period pants.
Disposable period products, such as pads and tampons, are not subject to VAT, however under current regulations, period pants are classified as garments and taxed at 20%.
The government’s response to the petition said that “exclusions are designed to ensure that reliefs are properly targeted and that under existing rules period pants may already qualify for the zero rate.”
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However, according to M&S, this only applies if the products are for use by girls under the age of 14, which means the current rules do not factor in the majority of the population that need to use them.
As a result, the upmarket retailer will be covering the cost of VAT across its range of period pants.
Last week, Tesco joined the campaign and has since reduced the price of its F&F range of period pants by covering the cost of VAT.
The permanent 20% reduction will bring the range in line with other period products which have been exempt from VAT since 2021.
Earlier this week, Sainsbury’s also joined the call and has promised that any reductions to the VAT on period pants will be directly passed onto customers.
