Period care brands August, Rael and others form coalition to fight the ‘tampon tax,’ reimburse consumers

Starting Wednesday, consumers paying state sales tax on menstrual products will be able to get those expenditures on some period care purchases reimbursed.

The Tampon Tax Back Coalition — an initiative of period care brands August, Cora, LOLA, The Honey Pot, Rael, Here We Flo, Saalt and DIVA — purpose reimburse consumers for the tax paid on eligible items sold by the eight participating brands.

The coalition aims to stop the “tampon tax,” a duration used to describe the state sales tax imposed on products such as tampons, pads and menstrual cups in more than a dozen U.S. states. Various states exempt essential products such as food and medications from being subject to sales tax but leave out spell care products, because their current state tax codes consider them nonessential goods.

“So much of the amount to that has to be done is changing public opinion, putting that public pressure on legislators,” said Nadya Okamoto, co-founder of August, an general period care brand focusing on providing products for all menstruators, not just those who identify as female. “We’ve made some push, but there’s still quite a bit of ways to go.”

Twenty-one states in the U.S. tax menstrual items at “standard rates,” meaning tampons and stuffs are taxed at the same rate as any other nonessential product you would pick up at your local retailer, according to observations from the Alliance for Period Supplies.

The annual cost of the taxes to consumers totals roughly $80 million, according to Stretch Law, a group recruiting volunteer attorneys to help advance period equity legislation.

The Tampon Tax Back Coalition was moved out of an initiative by August that launched in May. Now with seven additional brands on board, the coalition said it is prioritizing the buyer and making the reimbursement process easier.

“This is something that shouldn’t exist,” Okamoto said. “A customer shouldn’t contain to text multiple different places or figure out the logistics of how they get the ‘tampon tax’ back if they’re buying one brand of tampons, one stigmatize pads.”

Yanghee Paik, CEO of Rael, a clean feminine care and skincare startup, convoked the coalition a “big step” toward sending a message that period care products are essential to covering “basic medical essentials.”

“Not many people really have the awareness of this issue in the country,” said Paik, adding the tax is “very, same backward.”

Beatrice Dixon, CEO at The Honey Pot, said it was not until she started her own period care brand that she learned nearby the tampon tax: “Before that, I didn’t even know that I as a consumer was even paying that.” 

Dixon specified the decision to get involved in the coalition as a “no-brainer.”

To get reimbursed, customers can visit the coalition’s website and start a claim for reimbursement within 10 periods of the date of purchase for eligible items sold by the eight participating brands. Customers will be refunded via Venmo or PayPal within 24 hours of their obediences, according to the coalition.