Free Tax On Tampons Research Assignment: Should Tampon Be Taxed? (Research Paper Sample)

Free Tax on Tampons
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Introduction
The tampon is a term used to refer to the soft objects that help to maintain the female hygiene, especially during their menstrual cycles. It is a basic female product and is complementary to pads. Despite tampons being essential in women’s lives, most of the US states are yet to make it tax-free. However, the New York is one of the US states that have struggled to maintain tax-free of the tampon. Some states observe tampon as a medical good which deserves no tax while others recognize it as a normal commodity that should be taxed. A lot of effort has been made in most of the US states to evict the tampon tax. The California lawmakers have been cited as employing efforts to pass the law that will end the tax on a tampon and feminine napkins, but it is yet to be realized (Bowerman, 2016). Therefore, this study addresses on why the tampons should be universally tax-free across all the states and countries.
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The tampon should be considered as a medical or healthcare product and hence be made tax free. In that perspective, it will help to solve the most recurring problems associated with women. Most of the US states that have eliminated the tax on tampon have regarded it either as a medical or healthcare product or both. The Maryland has categorized tampon as part of disposable medical supplies. Minnesota regards it as a product within the menstrual hygiene. Massachusetts has placed a tampon in the exception of items within the health care. New Jersey categorizes it as part of medical items that are sold for human use. Pennsylvania has taken tampon as a part of special hygiene products as well as a special item that fits within the exception of household papers and soaps (Bennett, 2017). When the tampon is considered as a medical or healthcare product, it becomes had to place tax its sale. The medical items are essential to support the life of a human being so is the tampon to the life of women. When the menstrual cycle for women is associated with lack of hygiene, it is possible for them to contract infections that can hamper their well-being.
Tampons are essential to the daily lives of women. Menstruating women do not have any option rather than to purchase the hygiene products like the tampons. It is hard for a woman to carry out the daily task of work or schooling without the access to tampons during the menstrual times (BRAWS, 2016). The use of tampons is universally acknowledged in the lives of women. However, despite the recommendation of using tampons, some women are still unable to beat their financial challenges and secure them. In turn, they feel miserable and outridden in the society. Any means that facilitate the increment of tampon prices is a disgrace to these women. The use of taxes on tampon will mean that the prices of tampon will hike as well. It will thus be hard for these women to secure them. The society and the nation will consequently suffer a blow since the affected women will forfeit their daily activities that facilitate to the national production. The exemption of tax from tampons can increase the accessibility of such items by women due to reduced prices. In return, women will feel free to work, and the country will move forward.
Taxing the tampons is tantamount to gender discrimination. Considering that only women and non-binary people menstruate, enforcing the taxes on the sales of tampons can be observed as gender discrimination. Men are not affected by the use of tampons hence imposing the taxes will only oppress one gender. In Australia and most of the European countries, the tampons have been regarded as luxury products thus incurring critical taxes (Lea, 2016). Regarding the products meant for female hygiene as luxurious can have serious consequences to the lives of women. All the human beings have the right to coexist equally without any biasness by the policies that dictate the code of living. Women like men need to enjoy life fully and receive ethical treatment. Nobody chooses to be born either male or female, but it is something beyond the individual’s control. Therefore, treating the tampons as luxurious products and proceeding to impose hefty taxes is jeopardizing the human rights. The tampon should be set tax free just to allow women maintain their hygiene and this will help to beat the notion of gender discrimination.
Some countries and states have prioritized the use of tampons to make the sale to be tax-free. Canada, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and New Jersey are among the states that have abolished the taxation of the tampons. Such countries and states deem tampon as basic necessities that are fundamental to the life of a human being (Lea, 2016). However, there are other countries mostly from Europe that are yet to accept tampon as tax-free. All the European countries except the Ireland have been reported as taxing tampons. As a result, the activists in these European countries are always resenting the move through filing petitions and conducting the demonstrations (Lea, 2016). It is an indication, therefore that people are not happy with the taxing of tampons. It is an injustice against the female gender who for a long time have been looked down upon as inferior in the society. Taxing the tampons could be observed as a form of gender racism at large. The outcry of the European activists ought to listen and relevant policies implemented to set our women free. From the layman’s point of view, there is no luxury associated with tampons to support the European countries impose taxations. Tampons are just but necessities that women cannot forego.
Some organizations and institutions have embraced the practice of providing the tampons to the women who are a dire need. Bringing Resources to Aid Women in Shelters (BRAWS) is one the organizations that have facilitated the female hygiene. BRAWS is a non-profit making organization that has been observed as being at the forefront of distributing the female hygiene products to the homeless and other suffering women. The company has been in operation since 2015 and has been providing the sanitary pads and tampons to the women living with financial hardships (BRAWS, 2016). Many other organizations have been offering free tampons and sanitary pads to women as a part of the corporate social responsibility. It is a positive move that is meant to improve the health standards of women. However, the success of such organizations in their missions is adversely affected by the taxation of tampons. If these items could be tax-free, such organizations would preserve much of their resources and thus increase their help to a large number of women living in low-income households. Alternatively, most of the low income women would struggle to acquire the tampons if their prices are low.
The research conducted by BRAWS has revealed that most of the financially challenged women have resulted in the use of tissues papers or paper towels during their menstrual cycles. It has not been their wish, but the financial implications that have been imposed by taxation of tampons have affected them. The woman's menstrual cycle is biological, and they hardly have any control over it. Women vaginally bleed during their menstrual cycle. Some of them have prolonged cycle than others, but all of them are affected by the flow of blood. It thus becomes hard for women to avoid the use of feminine products during such times. However, the use of tissue papers and paper towels has been considered as unhealthy and dangerous to a woman’s life by the medical doctors. They also create embarrassment and lack of self-esteem to women especially when women are in public at the times of her menstrual cycles. The tampons are therefore not luxurious products but necessities (BRAWS, 2016). The exemption of taxes from the tampons will make it possible for women to forego the dangerous tissue papers and adopt the right standard of health. All countries should, therefore, devise laws that will abolish this taxation to help upheld the hygiene and self-esteem of our women.
In most of the countries, the drugs and other medical substances have been set as tax-free. It is because of their fundamental significance to the life of a human being that makes be tax-free. A woman under the menstrual period is not different from a sick person. During that time, most women lose a lot of blood, and if proper hygiene measures are not taken, the life of a human being can be lost. It is usually a critical period that the governments should approach from a special dimension. Separating the tampons from medical items is not only unjust but also immoral. The District of Columbia (DC) law has failed to recognize the sensitivity of the tampons, and it has thus imposed taxation on them just like other luxurious products. The move by DC law is contrary to the provisions of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that treats the tampon as medical products. The DC law has exempted the taxation of all the drugs including the over counter. In contrary, this law does not regard tampon as a medical or healthcare product (BRAWS, 2016). It is a biased law which is incomplete due to its discriminatory aspect that does not appreciate the welfare of our women. The tampon ough...