The Rubber Tax

If you do happen to click on the Terrence Higgins Trust site, you might also notice the link to the “Erase Tax on Rubbers” campaign. The THT has joined up with the National Union of Students to call on the government to stop charging VAT on condoms and contraceptives.

The income the Treasury gets from VAT on condoms is tiny compared to the cost of preventable sexual ill-health in the UK. Sexually transmitted infections cost somewhere around �1 billion to treat annually in the UK, and HIV care costs are around �350 million and rising. Wider condom use would save health and money.

Condoms in the UK are some of the most expensive anywhere in the world. They are almost twice as expensive as they are in the US, and more expensive than anywhere else in Europe. In theory condoms are sometimes available free of charge on the NHS; but clinics ration them and they are often hard to ask for, especially if you are young. Please click on the link to email your MP and ask them to write to John Reid, Secretary of State for Health asking him to support the recommendation of the Independent Advisory Group and remove VAT from condoms.