No tax increase for sanitary towels, Sri Lanka government says

Several Ministers of Sri Lanka said in social media that taxation on sanitary towels has not been increased. Accordingly, the pre-budget import tax on sanitary towels was 30% and there was no CESS tax on them. The government has reduced the custom import duty to 15% and added a new CESS tax of 15%. As a result, the tax amount remains the same. 

However, the government's clarification revealed that the tax on menstrual products in Sri Lanka is over 30% as more taxes are effective when they come to the retail market. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's son Minister Namal Rajapaksa said, "I firmly believe that women should have affordable access to sanitary napkins & therefore all taxes should be waived off for this essential commodity until we increase local production."

Government will go to history as a rule that taxed menstruation - Rohini Kavirathna

"Although the previous government reduced the taxes on sanitary towels by 40%, the present government has increased it by 15%," Sri Lanka opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya Matale district MP Rohini Kavirathna said in the parliament today participating in the budget debate. 

She said that the government would go into history as a rule that taxed even the menstruation of women. 

An article on Praja.lk pointed out that it is estimated an average woman spends 2,500 - 3,000 days in her life for menstruation. 

Period poverty is common among Sri Lanka's women and girls among the low-income groups. 

There is a public outcry in social media these days demanding the removal of this tax. 

(Photo: A stock of sanitary towels in a wholesale shop in Panadura - by Nishan Perera)