MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One Tennessee lawmaker wants to level the playing field for all women by lowering the tax on products now taxed by the state as “luxury items.”
State Sen. Sara Kyle of Memphis says a 7 percent tax on feminine care products unfairly targets women. She introduced a bill in 2017 to lower it to 5 percent, but now says she’s taking it a step further at the next legislative session.
“We should be helping them out by eliminating the tax,” Kyle said.
Right now, women in Tennessee pay 7 percent sales tax on these like they’re luxury items, the same as tobacco and candy, rather than the lower rate for necessities like basic food.
“That’s kinda messed up right there,” said Denise Whitney, who didn’t realize she was paying a higher tax rate. “Luxury items? Too bad we don’t look at it as a luxury, ’cause baby, when it hits us, it ain’t a luxury.”
Whitney’s daughters and granddaughters use a lot of menstruation care products.
“It’s a demand. It’s a necessity. That’s what it is,” she said.
Kyle said her bill to lower the tax on feminine care products hasn’t passed yet.
“The male side of the population does not need these types of products, and therefore, we find it discriminatory between the females needing these products and the males who do not,” she said.
But her team estimates it’d cost the state nearly $15 million, something they’d have to make up for in the budget elsewhere.
Whitney says it’s worth it.
“We need something in place for that, because that would help out so much.”
This idea isn’t completely new. Canada recently did away with the tax, and states like New York and Florida made the same move.
Kyle says more women are joining the state senate next year, which should increase support.
She also wants to help provide funding for schools to stock these products.
If you’d like to help out, bring products by the Chick-fil-A on Union Avenue from 5-7 p.m. Sept. 14, or drop products off at the Shelby County Schools Community Engagement Office.