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Written Question
Sanitary Protection: VAT
Tuesday 20th April 2021

Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effect on women's income of excluding reusable sanitary underwear from the new zero rate of VAT.

Answered by Jesse Norman

A zero rate of VAT has applied to women’s sanitary products since 1 January 2021. This applies to those products which were previously subject to the reduced rate of 5 per cent, for example, tampons and pads, and to reusable menstrual products, such as keepers.

The relief specifically excludes articles of clothing, such as “period pants”. Such exclusions are designed to ensure that the relief is properly targeted, since difficulties in policing the scope of the relief create the potential for litigation, erosion of the tax base and a reduction in revenue. Under existing rules “period pants” may already qualify for the zero rate, if they have been specifically designed to be worn by a child, meet the sizing criteria, and are held out for sale specifically for use by girls under the age of 14 years old.

Details are provided in VAT Notice 714: zero-rating young children's clothing and footwear: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-notice-714-zero-rating-young-childrens-clothing-and-footwear/vat-notice-714-zero-rating-young-childrens-clothing-and-footwear#items-suitable-only-for-young-children.

The Treasury, along with other relevant departments, carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing protected characteristics, including at Budgets and other fiscal events, in line with both its legal obligations and with its commitment to promoting fairness.


Written Question
Revenue and Customs: Internet
Wednesday 15th July 2020

Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason there is not a direct debit option on the HMRC online account website to help employers (a) logging and (b) paying employee contributions that remain constant throughout the year.

Answered by Jesse Norman

Employers can pay their PAYE/NIC liability by Direct Debit. However, it is currently only possible to make single Direct Debit payments.

This is because the amount owed can include elements which do not have to be reported to HMRC until too close to the payment deadline to allow HMRC to automatically collect tax due by Direct Debit. Even the most straightforward employer schemes may have variances in the amount due to HMRC throughout the year meaning a continuing Direct Debit for a set amount would not be appropriate.

HMRC do recognise the benefits of enabling employers to pay this way and are looking at how they can overcome these issues in order to allow employers to set up a recurring Direct Debit.