Prime Minister announces VAT cut on period products to 13%
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The Prime Minister announced that VAT on sanitary pads, tampons and other period products will be reduced from 24% to 13% from January 1, 2027, while the government will also examine schemes to provide free period products in schools.
- 03 Νοεμβρίου 2026 12:19
VAT on period products will be reduced from 24% to 13% as of January 1, 2027, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced.
Speaking on Alpha radio, Mitsotakis acknowledged that the current 24% VAT rate on period products is an anomaly and that there are girls who cannot afford to buy them.
“VAT on period products will be reduced from 24% to 13%. It is a measure of social and gender justice,” he said. The measure will take effect on January 1, 2027.
He also left open the possibility that the New Democracy government programme, to be presented ahead of the 2027 elections, could include targeted VAT reductions for 2028.
Mitsotakis nevertheless argued that “larger VAT cuts would create a hole in the public finances,” adding: “We have made reductions and we want to proceed with further ones.”
The Prime Minister also said that he has asked for schemes offering free period products in schools to be examined, particularly for girls in disadvantaged areas who are in greater need.
The initiative follows a nationwide survey by It’s Just Period, Deon Policy Institute and WHEN, conducted with the scientific collaboration of MRB Hellas and funded by Lidl Hellas and the Mediterranean Women’s Fund. According to the survey, one in eight women, or 12.5%, said that over the past 12 months they had been unable, at least once, to purchase period products because they could not afford them.
