KATHMANDU, Jan 9: “If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat, If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat, If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.” The song written by George Harrison and famously sung by The Beatles in 1966 exposes the government’s mindset of taxing anything and everything.
The song does not only portray the reality of excessive tax set on essential goods by governments around the world but is also a bitter truth faced by the people of Nepal as well. The 13 percent value added tax (VAT) imposed on sanitary pads is a major example of it.
On Saturday, youths comprising both genders staged a peaceful protest and demonstration at Pulchowk, Lalitpur, in an effort to raise their voices against the issue. They held placards with slogans like ‘Menstruation is not a luxury', ‘Axe the tax’, ‘Do not impose tax on periods’, and ‘Bleeding is not a choice’, among others.
The demonstrators alleged that the government had identified sanitary products including sanitary pads as luxury items and imposed VAT on them. Arguing that sanitary pads and other sanitary items are basic goods for women, they condemned the decision of the government to identify them as luxurious goods.
The protest called for the removal of taxes on menstrual products which the government considers luxury goods in the country. Petitions were also signed for the removal of the taxes on sanitary pads at the demonstration.
Earlier, the government of Nepal decided to give a 100 percent income tax waiver to pad manufacturing companies for the first three years of their operation and a 50 percent tax waiver in the years that follow to promote the production of sanitary pads within the country.