By: Mariam Turkey, Undergraduate Intern
On Thursday, February 3rd, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced Michigan’s tampon tax was officially repealed! In the state of Michigan, the 6% sales tax will no longer apply to tampons and other menstrual products. The tampon tax, which applies to menstrual products such as tampons, pads, menstrual cups etc. is a regular tax that is applied to these items as they fall under the “non-luxury necessities'' category since these items are considered a “luxury” under federal law they are subject to the state’s sales tax. Whereas other items in a similar department such as some over-the-counter medications, condoms, and erectile dysfunction pills are typically tax-exempt. This tax increases the overall price and further limits accessibility, which places a burden on those who menstruate, making menstrual products unaffordable. According to Lynse Tait, the executive director of the nonprofit Helping Women Period, in the state of Michigan alone 1 in 4 women cannot afford enough menstrual products every month, this prevents them from working as well as going to school(Ahmad, 2022). As reported by Global Citizen, an estimated 800 million people menstruate at any given moment and an estimated 500 million people live without access to sufficient menstrual products. Many of which are left with no choice but to resort to unsafe materials as an attempt to manage their periods, such as paper, old clothes, cotton, wool etc. Michigan is not the only state who has taken action to repeal the tampon tax in an effort to take a step towards equity for women, in fact it joins at least 20 other states who have put action towards eliminating the sales tax.
Works Cited:
The tampon tax: Everything you need to know. Global Citizen. (June, 28 2021). Retrieved from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/tam pon-tax-explained-definition-facts-statistics/
Michigan's $7 million 'Tampon tax' is officially over. Bridge Michigan. (February, 4 2022). Retrieved from https://www. bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigans-7-million-tampon-tax-officially-over
Photo Link:https://19thnews.org/2021/07/two-states-have-killed-the-tampon-tax-but-advocates-want-more/
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