Another State Kicked the Tampon Tax to the Curb

On Tuesday Nevada became the 10th state to eliminate the dreaded tampon tax, which is the 6.85 percent sales tax you have to pay when you buy pads and tampons, the New York Times reports.

Nevada joins New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida in getting rid of the tampon tax, and legislation in more states is gaining steam. Nebraska, Virginia, and Arizona have all introduced legislation in 2018 to eliminate the tax as well.

Some states have argued that the tampon tax makes the boundaries of what is or isn’t tax-exempt too slippery, but the NYT points out that Utah has made arcade-game tokens tax exempt, and states like Texas have made cowboy boots exempt as well. If cowboys can have their tax-free boots, surely those with periods can have their tax-free tampons. Also, less expensive tampons means more tampon use which means less of a chance of sitting down in a public seat and finding period blood smeared on it. Do the math, people.

That’s not a threat, by the way, but a cute idea for a protest.

It’s wild to me that this entire country doesn’t recognize the medical necessity of tampons and pads. I didn’t ask to have a period, thank you!