KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — Millions of women nationwide will no longer have to pay taxes for menstrual products including panty liners and sanitary pads.
English daily The Star reported Customs Department deputy director-general Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy as confirming that sanitary products were among the 5,443 general goods that have been exempted during a media briefing today.
The department's website also announced that panty liners, sanitary pads and tampons were exempted from the Sales and Services Tax (SST) which has been set at either five per cent or 10 per cent and the items have been categorised as “Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles.”
Previously, under Barisan Nasional's Goods and Services Tax (GST), menstrual products were taxed six per cent and were categorised under “Beauty and Health Products.”
The unpopular move affected 15.7 million women in Malaysia leading to an online Facebook petition demanding that the Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry put female hygiene products on the zero-rate list.
“GST on sanitary products infringes on our basic rights to access sanitary aid,” the petition had read.
