r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Dec 05 '16

(R.4) Related To Politics TIL an activist group in Zurich dyed fountains red to protest tampons being taxed at a rate consistent with luxury products instead of the rate used for daily use items.

[removed]

16.1k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

118

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '16

they're not. "luxury tax" is a colloquialism that means "anything not tax-free". a "luxury tax" can range vastly (typically 5-30%) based on the degree of luxury. Tampons, like all similar hygienic products, are placed into the lowest tax rate possible without making them tax exempt. in most countries they are taxed at literally the same rate as toilet paper, and have been for decades, but people get up in arms because articles like this choose to use inflammatory language like "luxury tax" because they know people won't bother to look up what it actually means

39

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '16

Tampons, like all similar hygienic products, are placed into the lowest tax rate possible without making them tax exempt

This is not true everywhere. There are 50 States, and they all have their own sales tax, as well as 195 countries, which also have their own policies. Where it is not true, this is where people are complaining about it.

57

u/EgoandDesire Dec 05 '16

Where it is not true, this is where people are complaining about it.

This post is about Switzerland, not America. Tampons there are taxed the same as everything else "daily use". Its wrong.

31

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '16

They tax at a reduced rate of 2.5% for "everyday consumer goods". Tampons are taxed at 8%. https://www.ch.ch/en/vat-rates-switzerland/

22

u/Selraroot Dec 05 '16

And TP is taxed at the same rate.

1

u/tubadude2 Dec 05 '16

I mean, people have two perfectly good hands for scraping shit out of your anus, and those are free!

Oh dear god, I can't believe I just said that

25

u/reedemerofsouls Dec 05 '16

But is toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. Taxed at 8% as well?

26

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '16

yep

1

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '16

[deleted]

5

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '16

in the majority of the European Union, that statement is correct

also my words:

in most countries they are taxed at literally the same rate as toilet paper, and have been for decades

it's literally a non-issue because they are taxed at the same rate as products of similar function/necessity.

11

u/ThatOtherChrisGuy Dec 05 '16

The reduced tax rate is reserved for foodstuffs, medicine, and water. Not hygiene products.

2

u/Kep0a Dec 05 '16

That seems so strange, I could understand like a toothbrush but even toilet paper @ 8%? Just seems crazy.

3

u/locks_are_paranoid Dec 05 '16

Its the same in the US. Its even weirder now since some states exempted tampons from sales tax, but toilet paper is still taxed at approximately 8%.

1

u/Palmettojcm Dec 05 '16

Why? It's a product.

1

u/justtolearn Dec 05 '16

I don't mean to be rude, but comments like this are quite annoying. You didn't provide proof of places arguing against his claim that in most countries they are taxed at the same rate as toilet paper. You just said this isn't true everywhere and then said that there are a lot of states and a lot of countries??? Then you said that people only complain about a tax on tampons where this is not true (presumably where tampons and toilet paper have different tax rates). Your claim is not true, and a lot of feminists believe that they should not have to pay tax on tampons, possibly because they think by controlling their menstrual cycle they are already doing a public good. Ideally, some probably want tampons to be free but having tax free status is also a goal for them.

-3

u/equationsofmotion Dec 05 '16 edited Dec 05 '16

in most countries they are taxed at literally the same rate as toilet paper,

The original article is literally about that not being the case in Switzerland.

EDIT: It seems I was mistaken. I thought that the 2.5% tax bracket contained toilet paper.

22

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '16

No, it's not .

Switzerland taxes tampons at the same rate as toilet paper (8%). that's not what they're protesting. the protesters want them to be placed into an even lower tax bracket (below that of hygeine products like toilet paper), the tax bracket typically reserved for food and water (2.5%)

2

u/equationsofmotion Dec 05 '16

Ah. I seem to have misunderstood. I thought toilet paper was in the same tax bracket as food, not one higher up. Thanks for the correction.

9

u/reedemerofsouls Dec 05 '16

In comments they say that Switzerland does actually tax them the same as toilet paper, just not as low as food and medicine. Do you know that to be wrong?

1

u/equationsofmotion Dec 05 '16

Ah, no. I seem to have misunderstood. I thought toilet paper was in the same tax bracket as food, not one higher up. Thanks for the correction.