Treasury analysing whether removal of tampon tax has lowered prices

theguardian.com:

The Treasury is analysing whether the removal of the “tampon tax” – trumpeted last week by Rishi Sunak as one of the benefits of Brexit – has helped lower prices at all, amid concerns the saving is not being passed on by retailers to women.Responding to a written question from Labour MP Ruth Cadbury, the government said a tax reduction was able to “contribute to the conditions for price reductions” and it was “looking into whether this important zero-rating is being passed on by retailers to women as intended”.Sunak scrapped the 5% VAT rate on tampons when he was chancellor, with the change kicking in on 1 January 2021.

Last year The Guardian reported stores were thought to have banked £10m a year from the tax change.A new snapshot for the last 12 months shows prices have risen again, in many cases by much more than the current 10% rate of inflation.A pack of 20 supermarket own-label tampons is now £1.16, up from 91p a year ago.

This works out as a 27% increase, based on the average price across Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons, according to the data firm Assosia.

Meanwhile, at £2.38 for a pack of 18, a box of Tampax Compak Super Plus tampons costs 35p, 17% more than in May 2022.When it comes to sanitary towels, a pack of eight to 10 Bodyform Ultra Goodnight pads costs 21p – or 16% – more at £1.51, while a 14-pack of Always Sensitive is up by 3p at 98p.