Say Pants to the Tax gains momentum as more retailers back campaign

The ‘Say Pants to the Tax’ campaign and petition, launched by Marks & Spencer and Wuka, calling on the Government to reclassify period pants in line with other period products, which have been exempt from VAT since 2021, has gained support from Primark, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Mountain Warehouse.

Currently, period products such as pads, tampons and menstrual cups are exempt from VAT in the UK, however, consumers pay a 20 percent tax on period pants, a reusable period product, as they are classified as garments, and the open letter to the financial secretary to the treasury now has 70 signatories, from politicians, charities, and retailers.

Supermarket giant Tesco became the first retailer to announce it would reduce the price of its F&F range of period pants by covering the cost of VAT and now M&S, Sainsbury’s, and Mountain Warehouse have all announced that they will also be passing on savings to its customers.

Victoria McKenzie-Gould, corporate affairs director at M&S, said in a statement: “More than 26,000 people have now signed the petition and it’s fantastic to see two other major retailers – Sainsbury’s and Mountain Warehouse - join our campaign with Wuka, as well as fantastic charities; momentum is building.

“As we get nearer to the 100,000 mark on the petition our campaign will continue so that we say pants to this tax and level the playing field so whatever period product someone chooses to use, it is VAT free. From tomorrow we are going to cover the cost of VAT on period pants to make things fairer, sooner for our customers, and encourage the Government to do the right thing ahead of the deadline for their response.”