Campaigners in plea as Chancellor set to reveal end of tampon tax

THE tampon tax is expected to be abolished in next week’s Budget, with the Chancellor committing to slash the VAT on women’s sanitary products to zero.

Rishi Sunak is planning to announce on Wednesday that the widely-unpopular tax will end with the Brexit transition period at the close of the year.

European Union law has so far prevented member states from reducing the rate below 5 per cent, which means tampons and pads are treated as luxury items and not essentials.

But the Government plans to introduce the zero rate on January 1, the first day the laws no longer apply to the UK.

The Treasury estimates the move will save the average woman nearly £40 over her lifetime, with a cut of 7p on a pack of 20 tampons and 5p on 12 pads.

While the EU has been working to give member states the ability to scrap the tax, successive UK governments have committed to abolish it.

Critics have long criticised the tax for contributing to “period poverty”, where sanitary products are pushed out of reach because of their cost.

The UK currently uses the revenues raised to fund charities that aid vulnerable women, with £62 million having been allocated since the scheme was launched in 2015.

Campaigners welcomed the move but raised concerns the Treasury is not planning to replace the Tampon Tax Fund with other investment.

Vivienne Hayes, the chief executive of the Women’s Resource Centre charity, said: “We are over the moon to learn of this news.

“Congratulations to all the women who campaigned so long for this ridiculous and unfair tax to be removed.

“We are concerned the Tampon Tax Fund will now be abandoned by the Government and we hope to see a replacement fund for women’s health and support charities announced in the near future.”

They also urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to go further and spend the £700m they estimate has been raised during the tax’s lifetime to be paid back to women’s charities

Mr Sunak was already facing some budgetary criticism over the delay to the long-awaited National Infrastructure Strategy.

The £100 billion investment tackling the climate crisis and boosting transport connectivity had been set to be published “alongside” the Budget.

But Whitehall sources were acknowledging it would now be delayed by days or weeks.