In most states, menstrual products—including tampons, pads, sponges, and menstrual cups—are not taxed, either because they’re considered basic necessities that should be tax-free or, in the case of five states, because they have no sales tax.
In recent years there has, fittingly, been a steady flow of states that abolished their tax on period products, with 22 states doing so in the last decade, according to the Alliance for Period Supplies, a nonprofit organization.
Texas was the most recent state to eliminate taxes on period products, with its law going into effect on September 1.
But 21 states are still taxing the products, and now eight woman-founded menstrual-hygiene brands have formed the Tampon Tax Coalition to advocate for abolishing the tax in those states, too.
Good money after pad: “First we’ve got to get rid of the sales tax, then we need to make these products more affordable and accessible in public spaces, or at least to those who may be below the poverty line,” Cherie Hoeger, co-founder and CEO of coalition member Saalt—whose product line includes period underwear, menstrual cups, and discs—told Retail Brew.
Saalt is based in Boise, and Idaho is among the states that still tax the products. (When a bill to provide free period products in schools was debated—and defeated—in Idaho’s statehouse in March, Republican Representative Barbara Ehardt said phrases including “period poverty” and “menstrual equity” that arose in the debate were “woke terms.”)
As long as the taxes on the products persist in some states, the coalition is vowing to reimburse their customers who’ve paid the tax. Consumers who go to the coalition’s website within 10 days of purchase and submit their receipt will be reimbursed via Venmo within 24 hours.
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The tax-repayment program is modeled after one another coalition member, August, a self-described “gender-inclusive and sustainable period care brand,” introduced in May. The brand pays the tax itself when customers order from its e-commerce site but devised the Venmo system for those who purchase August products from Target and other retailers that carry them.
Hoeger said Saalt’s e-commerce site charges tax to customers in states that still tax the products, but that it’s working with the coalition to set up its site so that it can proactively pay the tax, too.
One retailer, CVS, is also assuming the tax burden on the products. In October 2022, the company announced it would pay taxes for period products for customers in 12 states, although two—Texas and Virginia—have eliminated the tax since then.
What precluded the company from executing the policy in the dozen or so other states where the products are taxed are laws in those states that prohibit companies from covering a product’s tax, CVS told USA Today.
At the same time, CVS announced it was dropping prices on its private-label period products by 25%.
Team spirit: The remaining six members of the coalition are Cora, Diva, Here We Flo, The Honey Pot, Lola, and Rael.
The brands are, to be sure, competitors, but you’re not likely to see a Musk-Zuckerberg-style cage fight among their CEOs.
“The way that I view the landscape is anybody who is doing better for the world, who’s providing accessible period care and especially reusable period care, I see them as allies,” Hoeger said. “We really don’t take part in such a competitive patriarchal structure, but instead we say, ‘Hey, we can rally together and do good in the world.