|
|
Post by kayo on Mar 21, 2016 8:44:08 GMT -5
The debate centers on the idea that throw-away diapers are tax-free in most states (because they are a "basic health necessity") but tampons and sanitary pads are taxed. If men had to buy them every month, they would not be taxed. I'm just saying. There's a disconnect between the people who write the tax laws and the people who are affected by them. www.freep.com/story/life/2016/03/19/michigan-tampon-tax/81896566/ |
|
|
|
Post by padtastic on Mar 23, 2016 12:56:55 GMT -5
That article conflicts with other articles that I've read about this which state that diapers and pads are usually not taxed, but tampons are, which is where a lot of the complaints were supposedly coming from. The reason why tampons are frequently taxed even when pads and diapers are not, is that tampons have to undergo a different set of regulatory rules to be sold. Disposable diapers and menstrual pads are usually seen as a basic health necessity, and are made available tax-free. Tampons however are often treated as a "luxury item" because they have to be regulated differently than pads do since they're used internally. (The internal use adds a whole additional layer of regulation to tampons in the USA.) The fact that they do the same thing as pads (soak up menstrual fluid) also doesn't help the argument that they're not a "luxury item," because they're seen as duplicating the functionality of an item that's already tax exempt, and being a more costly way of doing so. Thankfully, I live in a state that doesn't tax tampons for those who want to use them, but for those living in other states, this is basically why pads are taxed and tampons aren't. To the best of my knowledge, only a handful of states tax both pads and tampons, and they're typically older, whiter, and unsurprisingly far more male, which explains why such a tax exists in the first place, even when it shouldn't.
|
|
