Illinois Considering Breast Pump Sales Tax Exemption
Bills have been introduced into the state General Assembly’s Senate and House that would remove sales tax for retail transactions of breast pumps and related supplies starting July 1.
Two bills have been respectively introduced into the House and Senate of the Illinois General Assembly that would exempt breast pumps, breast pump collection, storage supplies, and breast pump kits from sales tax in the state beginning on July 1.
In the House, state Rep. Barbara Hernandez introduced H.B. 4234, and in the Senate, Sen. Celina Villanueva launched S.B. 3634. The House bill currently sits at 19 sponsors, including Hernandez (the Senate is newly launched).
The effort began after a subgroup of the American Association for Homecare’s Breast Pump Policy Coalition initially engaged lobbyists in Illinois to assist with repealing the sales tax for breast pumps.
“Currently, only eight states in the US exempt sales tax for breastfeeding equipment, while infant formula is generally tax-free,” a statement from AAHomecare read. “A handful of states have limited exemptions, where pumps are exempt subject to certain stipulations. This isn’t a true solution and doesn’t ease the tax burden on most moms. Full sales and use tax exemption for breast pumps and supplies is the key to reducing this tax burden.”
Readers might recall that the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed similar legislative language last year that exempted breast pumps and related supplies from sales tax. The exemption applied to sales of all retail transactions of products initiating, supporting, or sustaining breastfeeding, and was effective Jan. 1.