Anger as tampon tax to remain until 2022

BRITISH women will be forced by Brussels to pay the tampon tax for at least another three years, despite Brexit and the EU finally moving to change rules preventing the UK cutting the 5 per cent VAT rate on sanitary products.

The European Commission yesterday launched long-overdue reforms to EU law that would let Britain put a 0 per cent rate on tampons, but they will not come into force until January 2022 at the earliest. Current EU VAT rules ban a 0 per cent rate on products in its member countries unless the rate existed before the Brussels law.

The delay sparked fury among campaigners and politicians, who have long fought against sanitary towels being treated as luxury non-essentials by the taxman. If Britain agrees to a transition period with the EU, it will not even be able to end the tax after leaving the EU on March 29 2019, despite huge support for its abolition.

The transition period is expected to last until the end of 2021 and Brussels demands that Britain abides by EU law for as long as it lasts. This means the 5 per cent rate would survive for 18 months after Brexit. The EU’S VAT reforms come into force the month after the proposed end of the transition deal, if talks go to schedule. The changes allow other EU member states to have a 0 per cent rate, if another member already has it for a particular product.

Pierre Moscovici, the EU tax commissioner, said, “The Commission, in general, as an institution, has been criticised for many years from all quarters because it does not allow certain products to benefit from reduced rates.”

Laura Coryton, the founder of Stop Taxing Periods, said: “It is very frustrating having to wait for so long.”