Tesco has announced that it has reduced the price of its F&F range of period pants by covering the cost of VAT on them, in a bid to make them more affordable for customers.
The twenty per cent reduction in price brings the period pants in line with other period products which have been exempt from VAT since 2021.
The permanent reduction in price is across all 8 lines of own brand F&F period pants sold by Tesco, with a 3 pack of pants reduced to £14.40 from £18.00 and a single pack of pants now £6.00, down from £7.50, offering market-leading value on this more sustainable, reusable option.
The announcement comes after Tesco last week joined the Say Pants to the Tax campaign calling on the Government to reclassify period pants as a period product so they can be exempt from VAT like other period products. (They are currently classified as garments).
Tesco was the first retailer to cover the cost of VAT on nearly 100 own label and branded products tampons and sanitary products back in 2017, ahead of Government’s move to remove the VAT which didn’t come into force until 2021.
Speaking about the price reduction on period pants, Christine Heffernan, Tesco Group Communications Director said:
“We know that the cost of buying essential period products can be a real struggle for many people. And we want to do our bit to help by covering the cost of VAT on period pants, helping to make this more sustainable option more affordable for customers.
“We were the first retailer to cover the cost of VAT on period products in 2017 and we’re proud to be helping customers again by covering the cost of VAT on period pants now, to make them that bit more affordable”.
Tesco is calling on the Government to reclassify period pants as period products and remove VAT so that customers shopping at any retailer can benefit from this saving. Customers can sign a petition in support of this campaign here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/635692
