AL4ME
Learn About: Tampon Tax
Menstrual Equity can be achieved through many means. In 2023, we are aiming to remove the tampon tax, otherwise known as the pink tax, in Alabama. The Tampon Tax disproportionately impacts poor women in the state. Removing this tax makes affording period products more possible and addresses one of the many barriers people might face when trying to support the biological needs related to menstruation. The eradication of the tampon tax is just one way to address period poverty. "Period poverty, defined as a lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities, waste management, and education, affects many women globally causing physical, mental, and emotional challenges. "
The Tampon Tax (Pink Tax) amounts to less than .01% of Alabama’s total revenue. It's time we axe this sexist tax.
The Tampon Tax Unfairly Burdens Poor Women.
• A sales tax on menstrual products (aka the tampon tax) unfairly burdens the state’s lowest income group, women and children. 16.90% of women in Alabama live in poverty while the national figure is 11.70%. Low-income citizens may be forced to choose between purchasing
menstrual products and other necessities.
• The American Medical Association deems menstrual products “essential for women’s health” and has called the tampon tax a “regressive” penalty.iv After a comprehensive study, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology concluded that “research supports the repeal of this tax in consideration of its financial, social, and political implications.” The average usage is more than 16,000 tampons or pads in a lifetime.
• Alabama exempts many other items from sales tax, including Viagra, pollution control equipment, and raw materials.
• A study conducted in New Jersey showed that removing the tampon tax provides a disproportionate economic benefit to poor women who, unlike wealthier women, cannot afford to buy period products more cheaply in bulk.
Menstrual Products are Medical Necessities.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies menstrual tampons as Class II medical devices and pads as Class I medical devices. The 2020 CARES Act designated menstrual products medical necessities for the purpose of HSA and FSA accounts.
The Cost of Removing the Tax Is Negligible.
• Alabama collects approximately $5.8 million from the sales tax on menstrual products. Record-high revenues over the last year have yielded a budget surplus of $2 billion. The tampon tax amounts to less than .01% of Alabama’s total revenue.
Removing The Tax Is a Bipartisan Issue.
• Eliminating the tampon tax has garnered bipartisan support across the country, with members of both political parties introducing legislation and signing bills into law to eliminate it.
• Earlier this year, Governor Greg Abbott called for a tampon tax exemption in Texas, recognizing that “[t]hese are essential products for women’s health and quality of life.”
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The Tampon Tax Is Unconstitutional.
• The sales tax on menstrual products treats individuals differently based solely on their sex.
• Constitutional law scholars from across the country, including Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of UC Berkeley Law School, have argued that the tampon tax amounts to sex-based discrimination in violation of equal protection at both the state and federal level.
• Period Law has successfully sued on this issue. We coordinated a class action lawsuit in New York in 2016 on behalf of women who paid the tax, prompting the state to end its tax within Period Law.
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This research was provided by our partners at Period Law.
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