Missouri is one of 21 states that taxes feminine hygiene products at 9.6%. One Missourian, who is going to school at Harvard, wants to change that.
Shruti Gautam said when she was going to high school in Columbia, she lobbied former state Representative Martha Stevens to ask the legislature to fund period products in schools.
“The way we envisioned it was for districts that had a certain percentage of students at or below the federal poverty line and having like a fund that is dedicated to specifically towards basically giving grant money to schools in that capacity,” she said.
Several Missouri bills seeking to eliminate or reduce the tax rate on feminine hygiene products have yet to pass. Gautam said if the tax rate cannot be reduced, then people should be reimbursed for the tax paid.
“It’s just a simple idea that if you are paying for a product that you truly need in order to go on with your day, then those products should be categorized as necessary products, rather than luxury products,” Gautam said. “I don’t think that in other states, period products are classified as luxury items, they would just be classified as regular items. They would get the normal kind of like sales tax on top of it, but the extra tax that’s in Missouri is, to my understanding, due to the luxury tax.”
Eight national brands are participating in the Tampon Tax Back initiative, which is a program that reimburses consumers for the taxes on certain period products. The eight brands that are participating include: August, Cora, DIVA, Here We Flo, The Honey Pot, LOLA, Saalt, and Rael.
To be reimbursed, go to TamponTaxBack.com, submit your receipts, and wait for a Venmo or PayPal payment.
Click here for more information.
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