Ukip: We will scrap the tampon tax

UKIP have just announced that they would remove what they call “invidious tax on women’s sanitary products”.

The party says that “currently tampons and sanitary pads are deemed a “non-essential luxury” item by the Treasury and so they are taxed at five percent accordingly. This is an “outdated and outrageous” tax on women”.

However, as they point out, removing VAT completely would actually involve leaving the EU.

All European countries are restricted from exempting any item from tax under EU law and means sanitary products are taxed across Europe – from 5 per cent in the UK, to as much as 27 per cent in Hungary.

Ms Evans continues: ““No other party can pledge to take this simple step,” she said, “as under EU rules no item that has ever had VAT charged on it can have VAT removed completely.

“This shows not only how ridiculous EU legislation is, but how very wrong it is that we’ve given our tax sovereignty over to a bunch of faceless – and mostly male – EU Commissioners who simply don’t understand real life, let alone real life for women.”

Last year a Change.org petition to abolish the tax which has so far it has received 220,000 signatures, and gained nationwide coverage.

Campaigners say that George Osborne and other European Chancellors should lobby the European Parliament to change the rules governing tax on tampons as a matter of gender equality.