Tax

Britain on Friday became the latest country to transform its measures on sanitary products by abolishing the so-called tampon tax, no longer classifying the products as nonessential and eliminating extra costs that many have criticized as sexist. The tax, a 5 percent value-added rate on sanitary products such as tampons and pads, is the minimum required for members of the European Union, which classifies those goods as nonessential. “I’m proud that we are today delivering on our promise to scrap the tampon tax,” Chancellor Rishi Sunak of the Exchequer said in a statement . “Sanitary products are essential so it’s right that we do not charge VAT.” With Britain’s split from the European Union this week , the tax was abolished, the government said . Facing public pressure in 2016 after a Change.org petition for abolishing the tax gained more than 300,000 supporters, David Cameron, who was then prime minister, in turn pressured the E.U. The E.U. said it would give … [Read more...] about U.K. Eliminates Tax on Tampons and Other Sanitary Products

SYDNEY, Australia — When Australia’s conservative government first introduced a federal goods and services tax in 2000, the health minister at the time met with protests over a new 10 percent levy applied to tampons and other female sanitary products. Anything that did not prevent diseases, the minister, Michael Wooldridge, argued, should be taxed. “As a bloke, I’d like shaving cream exempt, but I’m not expecting it to be,” Mr. Wooldridge, a Liberal Party member, told a reporter that January . Condoms were exempt but tampons were not, because “condoms prevent illness,” he said. “I wasn’t aware that menstruation was an illness.” Tampons and pads were, at the time, considered “luxury” goods and taxed as such. It has taken years, and successive governments — both conservative and progressive — for a recognition that sanitary products were a necessary health item for women. On Wednesday, the six men and two women who hold the purse strings for their states and territories … [Read more...] about Australia Scraps Tax on Tampons, Once Considered a ‘Luxury’

BERLIN — Long classified in Germany as “luxury goods” taxed at the highest possible rate, tampons, pads and other menstrual products will soon join bread, books and cut flowers on the list of items considered “necessary for everyday life.” The change, set to take effect on Jan. 1, will reduce the tax on menstrual products to 7 percent from 19 percent. Parliament passed the law last week, as a campaign to reduce the high taxes on period products spread across the globe. While 75 percent of all items considered essential in Germany — and therefore taxed at the lower rate — are foodstuffs, the category also includes other, less obvious products. Cut flowers, books and newspapers, paintings, collectible coins, and theater tickets are also on the list. European Union regulations dictate that certain items cannot be taxed at a lower rate, but menstrual products are not among them, so two German women took the issue into their own hands. “The higher tax rate on these … [Read more...] about Tampons to Be Taxed as Essential, Not Luxury, Items in Germany

The French government have been instructed to implement a wealth tax on the country’s top 10 per cent in order to help solve climate change. In a report submitted to the French government on Monday, it was recommended that authorities implement a once-off wealth tax on the country’s top 10 per cent for the sake of the country’s green agenda. The topic of wealth taxes has been gaining more prominence across the West over the last number of years, with a number of left-wing politicians and activists now advocating for such a one-off toll for the purpose of funding climate change initiatives. According to a report by Le Monde , the 150-page report penned by Professor Jean Pisani-Ferry makes a similar argument, arguing that a five per cent tax on the country’s wealthiest could generate up to €5 billion every year on average which could be spent on net zero efforts. Incredibly, while the tax has been portrayed as a tax on the “super wealthy” in media reports, it actually is … [Read more...] about French Government Told to Implement Wealth Tax to Fight Climate Change

The movement known as national conservatism, which just wrapped up its latest conference in Florida, is the third major attempt to solve the Republican Party’s central 21st-century policy dilemma: How does a party that historically represented the rich and big business adapt to a world where conservatism’s constituencies are not just middle class but blue-collar, downscale and disappointed with the modern American economy? The first attempted adaptation belonged to George W. Bush. His slogans were “compassionate conservatism” and the “ownership society,” and his policies offered new spending on education and health care, support for faith-based anti-poverty programs and easy credit for new homeowners — all theoretically designed to foster self-sufficiency rather than dependence, building a conservative alternative to the liberal welfare state. After Bushism came to grief in the housing bubble and the financial crisis, the second adaptation had its hour: so-called reform … [Read more...] about Can Republicans Tax the Rich?

In between America’s two most famous tea parties, the Boston affair in 1773 and the protest movement that arose in 2009, there was a referendum known as Proposition 13. Like the tea parties, it was rooted in an abhorrence of taxation (with or without representation). Like them, too, it had enduring consequences. Proposition 13 was an assault on the property-tax structure in California, where plebiscites are hard-wired into the political ethos and voters tend to exercise the franchise aerobically. In 1978, they approved this ballot initiative by nearly 2 to 1, setting in motion a continuing debate over whether they had acted with beneficent wisdom or with heedless foolishness. Owners of real estate quickly saw their property tax bills slashed. But they, and millions of others, also found themselves burdened with assorted new fees and levies to compensate for lost state and local government revenues. For better or for worse, Proposition 13 inspired tax revolts in other states . … [Read more...] about The California Ballot Measure That Inspired a Tax Revolt