Tampon tax: women go to court.

• Author: Butcher, Anne
• Position: Citings - Brief article

Five women are challenging New York's sales tax on feminine hygiene products. Like most states, New York charges a base sales tax rate and then exempts certain products, such as unprepared food, from it. The class action lawsuit claims that it's discriminatory not to include tampons and sanitary napkins on the exemption list.

"New York already exempts a whole long list of medical necessities. Everything from bandages and gauze to Rogaine, dandruff shampoo, and Chapstick," the plaintiffs' attorney, Zoe Salzman, told the Associated Press. "There's no question in my mind or in anyone's mind that if men had to use these products every month, they would already be tax exempt."

Salzman doesn't mention it, but the state also exempts...