How much do you spend as a woman!

Erm, all the money that I spend I spend as a woman, because I am one. (not really confused, just being flippant)

Sanitary products should NOT be subject to VAT, men can choose wether they shave or not, women cannot choose to not have periods.

"VAT on razor blades is at the standard 20% rate. VAT on tampons is at a reduced rate of 5%, the minimum it can be under current EU rules."

Those of you in the UK are lucky that you don't pay VAT on food, books, etc...here in Spain we pay IVA on both!

Same here in Portugal, CherryHatrick. Nothing is free of VAT. There 3 levels 6% 13% and 23%. Don't know offhand what level sanitary products are charged at although everything has the VAT rate listed on your supermarket bill. Most people are poorer here so they are paying for being a woman too.

You don't have to pay vat on sanitary/incontinence protection every month. You can buy non-disposable pads or the cup things that collect the waste. If you are like me and you can't use the plasticky stuff they use on all this type of thing now, they are far superior and do the planet a favour. I used to spend a fortune of ST's followed by a fortune on prescription medication to put right the damage done by them. It never occurred to me there was another way until just before menopause!

Even though I finished my monthy periods quite a few yrs ago I still have to be stocked up with decent quality pads to cope with the weak bladder problem that I suffer with on a daily basis I use about 4 pads a day so spend about £8/10 a week on pads the cheaper ones from Morrisons/Sainsburys don't do the job for me they should be available VAT free imo,you can go to health clinics and get free condoms so why not free sanitary pads.

Tesco have decided to absorb the ‘Tampon tax’ for women. So their sanitary products are now tax free to women. Other supermarkets have followed suit too. My daughter, who works in advertising, created this campaign. Top marks to Tesco for leading the way with this ?

MOnica, I agree with your sentiments. Only yesterday on the news up here in the North East, it was reported that school girls here are not going to school during their periods because they can't afford sanitary protection! I could not believe what I was hearing! We are the 6th richest country in the world! I think it will take more than VAT exemption to put this right!

Not only should there be no tax charged on sanitary protection, it should all be provided free of charge!
If a man and a woman do the same job, at the same salary, why should her wages be worth less to her every month because she has to pay out for monthly necessities?
This has been a bugbear of mine for many years. I'm way past the menopause now, but I suffered with really heavy periods for years, so can virtually double the average amount spent on tampons, pads etc.
We all know there'll never be true equality between men and women, mainly because we women are better then men anyway, () but the financial diffference irks me!

It irks me enough to make me put three 'f's in difference!

Yes, tax on sanitary products is wrong. But 'hair cuts, make-up, perfume, tanning, clothes' are largely 'feminine products' too. No-one's MAKING you spend a fortune on painting your face. And this man, at least, has always felt you look much better without it.

Has anyone seen the film I Daniel Blake.
The young woman in the film had to resort to stealing a packet of tampax because she was so hard up.

So, no, I believe these products should not be taxed and also they should be a lot cheaper.
Not everyone has the luxury of choice of product, let alone the product itself.

Did anyone else use a moon cup?

Having, fessed up to the GP and been referred to the 'Continence Nurse' at our GP surgery, I now have a 3 month x 2 a day supply of perfectly decent pads delivered free of charge to the house. You just phone the number given when nearly run out to trigger the next delivery. Thank you NHS Scotland.

Tesco have decided to absorb the ‘Tampon tax’ for women. So their sanitary products are now tax free to women. Other supermarkets have followed suit too. My daughter, who works in advertising, created this campaign. Top marks to Tesco for leading the way with this ?

Midget, I am still giggling at your predictive text and have a wonderful mental image of a Cat with a period!!!!

I am unable to use any old sanitary products due to perfumes (yes these things are perfumed). So I did see a difference when Tesco decided to ditch the VAT cost for a short time. I use them daily. I'm on a low income.
It's disgusting that there are girls unable to to attend school because they don't have sanitary products in this country!!
It's also a huge problem for our homeless ladies and for people who have to use food banks.

Everything to do with mensturation is viewed ridiculously. It’s dirty, you can’t swim, have sex, (lots of nationalities believe that) and then they tax you for coping with the thing that effectively brings life into the world. Aaarrggh!! Drives me crazy. One of the sanitary ware companies is now apparently going crazy by showing the flow in red in ads rather than that ridiculous blue.

Shizam apparently the ad you referred to caused an 'outcry'!! I have a vision of an auditorium full of women wearing identical twinsets and Mary Whitehouse masks wringing their pearls and gnashing their teeth ?
It would be very interesting to know the demographics of the complainers

VAT on something as essential as sanitary products is a scandal but women are too nice to do anything about it. A short amount of time bleeding on public transport and at work would sort this out forever.

Definitely san pro shouldn't be taxed. I dread to think how much I've spent over the years. I also had to take a truckload of painkillers due to awful migraines which I'm certain were hormone based as since the menopause (which was an absolute Godsend) I hardly ever get an ordinary headache. Touch wood.

Exalted Wombat, this is a very sex discriminatory post that shouldn't be passed by admin nowadays. No-one has mentioned makeup male or female, haircuts male or female, clothes male or female, perfume male or female, tanning male or female - BTW can lead to skin cancer either sex. This thread is about people missing school/work because they cannot afford basic sanitory equipment during menstruation and that not taxing it makes it more affordable to those on a lower income so they don't miss school/work. Currently prices have gone up and there has been a wage freeze/minimal pay increases below inflation for years so more women than before are in this situation. This is over and above period cramps, headaches, constipation, low/irritable moods, flooding blood, vomiting etc that many girls/women suffer every month so be bl...y glad you are a man and don't mae flippant sexist remarks!

make

I had a hysterectomy at the age of 40 and never had a period after that but I agree that there should not be any VAT on sanitary products.
BadenkateI could not agree more.

Missing the point of the thread I thought I might mention that I generally avoided having periods by taking the contraceptive pill continuously.
The three weeks on, one week off regime was introduced when compliance faltered as women in the very early days came off the pill believing the blood was daming up inside them. The pill only took off after withdrawal bleeding was introduced. (I believe all the early experimentation was done in South America).
In the 60's and 70's it was mainly women doctors I knew who took the pill continuously. When I stopped to try for a baby it took two cycles first time, three cycles second time so I have had very few periods to contend with throughout my life.