To Tax or Not to Tax? Tampon Taxes and Gender (In)Equality: The Cyprus Case-Study

Abstract

The ‘tampon tax’ is a consumption based tax, imposed on products of menstrual hygiene, which has come to the centre of attention worldwide as feminist activists keep protesting against its imposition. This article suggests that the VAT directive itself violates the charter of fundamental rights of the EU, as it obliges the member States to impose at least 5% VAT on sanitary products, the consequence of that being that the domestic law implementing the directive necessarily violates the charter as well. Although Cyprus imposes the lowest VAT rate possible, the level of awareness in the Republic as well as the cover of the topic by the local media is surprisingly low compared to the international evolutions in the field, while its domestic law is violating gender equality, despite the correct implementation of the directive.