Hello everybody,
I just came across this good news, so I thought it was worth a mention.
From today, 21st of August, Tesco is set to become the first retailer to cover the cost of VAT on period pants.
The supermarket will implement a 20% reduction – the price of VAT – across all eight lines of its F&F period pants in a bid to make them more affordable to customers.
We all know that period products are expensive, and not to long ago taxed - as they were not considered a necessity (which is absolutely insane to be honest) - so having giant corporation like Tesco make a step in the right direction is amazing to see.
Period pants have been a life saver for a lot of people that were able to rely on them instead of keep spending money for tampons and pads, while at the same time nudging at sustainability, being washable and reusable.
The move comes after Tesco joined the Say Pants To The Tax campaign, led by M&S and period underwear brand Wuka, that together wrote an open letter to the financial secretary last week, urging the government to reclassify period pants as a period product so they can be exempt from VAT. They are currently labelled as garments.
Christine Heffernan, Tesco group communications director, said: "We know that the cost of buying essential period products can be a real struggle for many people. And we want to do our bit to help by covering the cost of VAT on period pants, helping to make this more sustainable option more affordable for customers.We were the first retailer to cover the cost of VAT on period products in 2017 and we’re proud to be helping customers again by covering the cost of VAT on period pants now, to make them that bit more affordable."
Tina Leslie, founder of period poverty charity Freedom4Girls, said this was “fantastic news for people wanting to purchase period pants”.
“We never understood why, when the tampon tax was abolished, they didn’t include period pants. This shows how still that there is such a lack of understanding and education surrounding periods and period protection.
“Hopefully, with Tesco taking the lead, more outlets and supermarkets will follow and press the government to change the policy.”
To give a quick example of these reduction, a three-pack of F&F period pants, which yesterday had a shelf price of £18, now costs £14.40. Meanwhile, a single pair now costs £6, down from £7.50.
We hope that more and more retailers, especially the big ones with capital and platforms available will soon follow the lead in order to make all period products affordable for the general public and where possible more sustainable.
If anything changes or any other retailer will follow, I will definitely keep this updated!
I just came across this good news, so I thought it was worth a mention.
From today, 21st of August, Tesco is set to become the first retailer to cover the cost of VAT on period pants.
The supermarket will implement a 20% reduction – the price of VAT – across all eight lines of its F&F period pants in a bid to make them more affordable to customers.
We all know that period products are expensive, and not to long ago taxed - as they were not considered a necessity (which is absolutely insane to be honest) - so having giant corporation like Tesco make a step in the right direction is amazing to see.
Period pants have been a life saver for a lot of people that were able to rely on them instead of keep spending money for tampons and pads, while at the same time nudging at sustainability, being washable and reusable.
The move comes after Tesco joined the Say Pants To The Tax campaign, led by M&S and period underwear brand Wuka, that together wrote an open letter to the financial secretary last week, urging the government to reclassify period pants as a period product so they can be exempt from VAT. They are currently labelled as garments.
Christine Heffernan, Tesco group communications director, said: "We know that the cost of buying essential period products can be a real struggle for many people. And we want to do our bit to help by covering the cost of VAT on period pants, helping to make this more sustainable option more affordable for customers.We were the first retailer to cover the cost of VAT on period products in 2017 and we’re proud to be helping customers again by covering the cost of VAT on period pants now, to make them that bit more affordable."
Tina Leslie, founder of period poverty charity Freedom4Girls, said this was “fantastic news for people wanting to purchase period pants”.
“We never understood why, when the tampon tax was abolished, they didn’t include period pants. This shows how still that there is such a lack of understanding and education surrounding periods and period protection.
“Hopefully, with Tesco taking the lead, more outlets and supermarkets will follow and press the government to change the policy.”
To give a quick example of these reduction, a three-pack of F&F period pants, which yesterday had a shelf price of £18, now costs £14.40. Meanwhile, a single pair now costs £6, down from £7.50.
We hope that more and more retailers, especially the big ones with capital and platforms available will soon follow the lead in order to make all period products affordable for the general public and where possible more sustainable.
If anything changes or any other retailer will follow, I will definitely keep this updated!
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9 Comments
sorted byPresumably there's a reasonable margin on these products for a retailer to be able to absorb the VAT element + a bit.
Respect for the outcome.
If Gov formally drops the VAT, the (Tesco) price will actually increase