Feminine Care Brands Team Up to Reimburse Customers for Tampon Tax
Eight feminine care brands are teaming up to eradicate the Tampon Tax.
Twenty-one states still have the Tampon Tax, meaning menstrual care products are taxed as though they are luxury items. However, in an effort to fight against the tax, eight feminine care brands have formed the The Tampon Tax Back Coalition, through which they will reimburse customers for the amount they were taxed when purchasing their products from a third-party retailer. Brands include August, The Honey Pot, Rael, Lola, Cora, Diva, Here We Flo and Saalt.
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The coalition was started by Nadya Okamoto, founder of period care brand August, who has been fighting the Tampon Tax since the brand’s inception.
“When we launched our direct-to-consumer, we were always absorbing the Tampon Tax for customers wherever possible,” she said, noting there are seven states where it is illegal for a retailer to absorb the Tampon Tax. “When we launched in Target in March of this year, we lost the ability to absorb it because we weren’t overseeing the point of purchase and so we very quickly mobilized in May of this year to find a way to reimburse people within 24 hours for any taxes that they’re charged.”
With this, Okamoto, who previously founded the nonprofit Period.org, began reaching out to her contacts in the industry and posting on social media to bring brands together. Lola was the first brand to reach out to her directly after her social media posts.
“I saw the post and I was like, ‘This is amazing and brilliant and we need to do something,'” said Lola chief executive officer Amy Fisher, noting the brand began brainstorming how to respond. “I said, ‘Why are we going to compete with them on this?’.…With certain issues like this, there is no competition. We’re all trying to do the best for our consumers.”
To be reimbursed, customers can enter their phone number on the Tampon Tax Back website — this will start a text chain where they can submit their receipts and receive a reimbursement within 24 hours via PayPal or Venmo. Through this reimbursement, consumers in the seven states where absorbing the Tampon Tax is illegal are still able to participate when purchasing from a third-party retailer.
“When we’re selling direct-to-consumer, we are the retailers and we cannot absorb that sales tax, but when we are not the retailer, meaning that they’re buying on Target or Walmart or in-store, then we can do that because we’re not technically absorbing it,” Okamoto explained.
For Okamoto, the coalition is a long-term commitment that she hopes will continue to grow with other period care brands joining.
“I’ve continued to reach out to the brand accounts and the emails of people I know who work on Tampax and Always, U by Kotex, the bigger brands,” she said. “I have not heard back. I’ve been rerouted to different general press emails.…I’m putting a public call out to be like, ‘Hey, big period care brands, we need you on board.'”
Similarly, Fisher believes bigger brands will see the community being built and recognize the need to join.
“Consumers vote with their wallet, and they vote for brands that support them and they vote for brands that show them a sense of community,” she said. “They’re going to see the enormous support that we’re getting for this initiative and join.”
The 21 states where the Tampon Tax is still enforced include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The seven states where it is illegal for a retailer to absorb the Tampon Tax include Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Kentucky.
