Louisiana to Exempt Diapers, Tampons from All Sales Taxes

BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana women and families won’t have to pay sales taxes on diapers, tampons and other feminine hygiene products, under a bill signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards.

But they’ll have to wait a while for the tax break. To give the state time to plan for the estimated $11 million in lost yearly tax collections, lawmakers set the tax exemption to start in July 2022.

The Legislature passed the bill by Rep. Aimee Freeman, a New Orleans Democrat, in the regular session that ended earlier this month. Senators voted 33-1 for the tax break, while lawmakers in the House approved the final deal in a narrower 63-36 vote. Passage of the bill as came as part of a broader tax package backed by lawmakers in the final days of the session.

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The measure will exempt diapers for children and adults and all types of feminine hygiene products from the 4.45% state sales tax and from any local sales taxes traditionally charged on those items. Women and families in the state buy about $249 million of those products each year, according to a nonpartisan financial estimate of the legislation.

The tax break will put the essential items in line with prescription drugs, which already are exempt from sales taxes.

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