Big News: Chicago Legislators Removed the City’s Tampon Tax

While it only gets rid of the 1.25% tax that would have contributed to city finances (Illinois’s state sales tax, 10%, still remains), it’s a step in a direction that many cities and states have been moving toward. Illinois legislators are working on doing the same for the state sales tax, in hopes that it would be exempt as a medical necessity.

Back in January, two California assemblywomen introduced measures to avoid taxation on the same products, stating that women didn’t have the choice to simply ignore menstrual cycles. Five women filed a lawsuit against the state of New York on March 3rd, claiming that the supplies should be filed as medical necessities rather than general merchandise. Removing the tax would cause states millions in tax revenue, but those in favor of getting rid of the “tampon tax” say that it would make what gets taxed more consistent.

 

Cover image courtesy of Shutterstock.

By Gwendolyn Wu on March 18, 2016
Gwen, a San Fernando Valley native, will be a second year in the fall at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she plans to double major in history and sociology. When not reporting on student government, being a student activist, or advising incoming first-years, she enjoys food, watching Community and Mad Men, and traveling. Someday, she hopes to cover a political or education beat for the Los Angeles Times.