‘Imagine the need for sanitary products being called a luxury,’ state Rep. Raychel Proudie said while advocating for the new tax law
BY: ANNA SPOERRE
Missouri Independent
Diapers and menstrual hygiene products such as tampons and pads will now be taxed at a lower rate in Missouri stores.
The new law, which went into effect last week, eliminates what’s commonly known as the “luxury” state sales tax rate of 4.225% on these products and reduces it to 1.225%, the same rate at which necessities such as groceries are taxed.
After years of bipartisan support for eliminating this luxury tax in Missouri, the new law finally got across the finish line in May as part of a larger bill that repealed the state’s capital gains tax.
Incontinence products for babies, children and adults are included in the exemption, as are products used during menstruation, including period “cups” and period underwear.
Heading into the 2025 legislative session, Missouri was one of about two dozen states with the inflated tax on diapers still in place and one of 19 states with a luxury tax on period products. This year it joined Alabama in eliminating both.
“Imagine the need for sanitary products being called a luxury,” state Rep. Raychel Proudie, a Democrat from Ferguson, said during a House committee hearing this spring. “Any of us who has experienced such a luxury once a month would argue strongly against that being the case.”
Advocates for the elimination of this tax on diapers and period products often cite the exclusion of products such as Viagra, which treats erectile dysfunction, from the luxury tax.
Trish Vincent, director of the Missouri Department of Revenue, said in a statement that the change “provides meaningful relief for Missouri families.”
This year, Missouri had the greatest number of state legislators working to eliminate the diaper tax, with 17 pieces of legislation proposed, according to the National Diaper Bank Network’s legislation tracker.
In 2024, nearly half of U.S. families with children younger than 4 who were wearing diapers reported experiencing diaper insecurity, according to a study published in May by the National Diaper Bank Network and the marketing research group YouGov.
Of those experiencing diaper insecurity, 79% of mothers surveyed said they felt stressed or anxious about potentially being unable to afford diapers, which also contributed to feelings of loneliness and fears about the future.
The St. Louis Area Diaper Bank called the new law a “monumental win for families across Missouri.”
An estimated one in four parents experiencing diaper insecurity reported missing an average of five days of school or work a month because they didn’t have enough diapers and therefore couldn’t drop their child off at day care, where parents are typically required to provide their own diapers, according to the network.
Lack of access to period products also contributes to missed school and work for countless American girls and women every year. The Alliance for Period Supplies estimates two in five people struggle to afford period supplies.
State Sen. Barbara Washington, a Kansas City Democrat and a proponent of eliminating the diaper and period product taxes, also filed legislation aimed at requiring public schools to provide free period products to students beginning in fourth grade. The bill never got a hearing.