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After months of pressure to act, the federal government is removing the GST and HST from tampons and other feminine hygiene products, effective July 1, 2015.

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The Department of Finance announced Thursday in a tax notice that it is removing the goods and services tax (GST) and harmonized sales tax (HST) on “a supply of a product that is marketed exclusively for feminine hygiene purposes and is a sanitary napkin, tampon, sanitary belt, menstrual cup or other similar product.”

A spokeswoman for Finance Canada confirmed the taxes will be off the products effective July 1, 2015.

The move comes a few weeks after the federal government supported an NDP motion to remove the GST portion of the HST from feminine hygiene products. The NDP and women’s groups have called the tax “gender-based discrimination.”

Calls for the government to remove the GST from tampons and other female hygiene products have ramped up in recent months, with an online petition called “No Tax on Tampons” now having almost 75,000 supporters.

Ottawa Citizen