Jersey keeps GST on period products over financial exemptions
Jersey's social security minister has dismissed calls to remove a 5% goods and services tax from sanitary products, cementing the island's status as the only place in the British Isles to maintain the levy on essential female hygiene items.
Jersey has rejected calls to scrap its 5% goods and services tax (GST) on sanitary products. Social Security Minister Elaine Millar described removing the levy as "pointless", arguing the government's free product scheme already addresses affordability.
The decision leaves Jersey as the only remaining jurisdiction in the British Isles to tax period products. Politicians initially voted to abolish the tax in 2022, but the government reversed that decision upon launching its free distribution scheme in October of that year.
Millar defended the policy through a strictly financial lens. "If you're spending £5 a month on sanitary products, taking GST off, if the saving was passed on, would save you 25 pence," she said. "With free products, you're saving £5 because you're getting the entire product free."
The minister's stance highlights the island's rigid approach to GST exemptions. While basic hygiene products remain taxed, Jersey entirely exempts financial services, insurance, postal services, prescription medicines and school fees from the levy.
The alternative free product scheme has cost the government more than £500,000 since it began four years ago. Millar noted it has expanded its range of products and pickup locations, calling it a "testament to the need and the demand for the scheme."
Campaigners argue that relying on a free scheme does not resolve the underlying inequality of taxing a biological necessity. Debbie Taylor, president of Soroptimist International Jersey, pointed out that women who choose to buy products privately still pay the premium.
"This is just another thing that's just glaringly obvious that, hang on a minute, women are paying every month - they're paying for a product with GST on top," Taylor said. She argued that even small savings could be redirected to other necessities.
Taylor urged the newly formed government, which contains more women than previous administrations, to reconsider the tax. "I just think that it's ideal opportunity now for, as we have so many women in government, to make sure the women's health strategy is pushed forward and why not include whether we pay GST on female products," she said.
Millar maintained she "wouldn't support it because I don't think it would produce any effective benefit", a stance Taylor called "a little short-sighted". For residents, the issue remains a question of tax fairness, contrasting an unavoidable monthly cost against an array of exempted services.
