PARIS: French MPs have voted against an amendment which would have cut VAT paid on sanitary products from 20% to 5.5%.
Socialist MPs had introduced the amendment to the budget for 2016, saying that as “basic needs,” tampons, towels and menstrual cups should be taxed at the lower rate.
But the proposal was rejected in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The government opposed the change, saying it would reduce tax receipts in 2016 by 55m euros (£40m, $63m).
The feminist collective behind the proposal, Georgette Sand, said it “saw red” at the outcome.
