THE JOURNEY TO GETTING PERIOD PANT TAX AXED

NOV 2023 - WE DID IT! Period Pant Tax Is removed - effective from Jan 2024

OCT 2023 - M&S Join Our Case With the #SayPantsToTax Campaign. An Open Letter is written & signed by over 70MP's.  36,000 Signatures reached.

AUG 2023 - 28,000 Signatures and counting

OCT 2022 - 6,055 Signatures

JAN 2021 - 18,161 Signatures & Government response

At 10,000 signatures, The Government responded to our petition saying: “difficulties in policing the scope of the relief create(s) the potential for litigation, erosion of the tax base and a reduction in revenue”

 * Following our petition, MP Daisy Cooper started an Early Day Motion and invited other MPs to sign, to ensure all period products are considered essential, and eco-friendly options are affordable for all.

OCT 2021 - 2,962 Signatures

AUG 2017 - HMRC Letter

We wrote to HMRC to clarify that period underwear would be classified as a menstrual product and taxed accordingly. This was our first response from the HMRC to say that period underwear would be taxed as regular underwear. The fight for recognition begins!

SOME FACTS ABOUT TAMPONS & PADS

*Tampons, pads and panty liners and their packaging generate more than 200,000 tonnes of waste per year, and they all contain plastic. *Disposable pads contain up to 90% plastic; the equivalent of four plastic bags. * Plastic products can take up to a thousand years to decompose in landfill or in the ocean. *Half of tampon-users in the UK flush tampons away. It has been estimated that 1.5-2 billion disposable period products are flushed down Britain’s toilets each year. *It costs £88 million a year to unblock sewers blocked by menstrual products (combined with fats, oils, grease and food waste) in the UK. *Harsh chemicals such as chlorine and dioxin are still found in mainstream brand pads and tampons. These are damaging for the environment and potentially for people’s health. *Statistics from the Women’s Environmental Network (WEN)