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Duane Reade Charges Sales Tax for Tampons on Day Exemption Was to Start

By Ben Fractenberg | September 1, 2016 4:53pm | Updated on September 1, 2016 5:00pm
 A Midtown Duane Reade charged sales tax for a box of tampons the day a tax exemption for feminine products was supposed to go into effect, Sept. 1, 2016.
A Midtown Duane Reade charged sales tax for a box of tampons the day a tax exemption for feminine products was supposed to go into effect, Sept. 1, 2016.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

MIDTOWN — Perhaps they didn’t get the memo.

Several Duane Reade locations were still charging for feminine hygiene products Thursday, the day a sales tax exemption was supposed to go into effect.

The Duane Reade at Broadway and 52nd Street tacked on sales tax for a box of tampons purchased at 3:32 p.m. by a DNAinfo reporter. Several other people tweeted about being taxed as well at other locations.

Meanwhile a few CVS pharmacies did not charge tax, according to tweets.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the tax legislation into law in July.

"Eliminating this regressive tax on women was a matter of fairness and I am proud to have signed this legislation to right that wrong," Cuomo said in a statement Thursday. "With the law in effect, we have taken one more step toward a more just and more fair New York for all."

The products have been taxed since the state first instituted the sales levy in 1965, even while dietary and family planning products were deemed exempt.

The exemption is expected to save women in the state $10 million a year. 

Duane Reade did not immediately return a request for comment.