Missouri exempts diapers, feminine hygiene products, and incontinence products

Diapers, feminine hygiene products, and incontinence products are exempt from Missouri state and local sales and use tax starting August 28, 2025. To be sales tax compliant, businesses will need to ensure they cease applying sales tax to qualifying transactions.

Key takeaways

On and after August 28, 2025, Missouri sales tax does not apply to retail sales of diapers, feminine hygiene products, and incontinence products. The exemption applies to both state and local sales and use tax.
All retailers are required to provide the sales tax exemption for adult and child diapers, feminine hygiene products, and urinary incontinence products starting August 28, 2025.
Businesses that make qualifying sales of diapers, feminine hygiene products, and incontinence products should report the sales as a negative adjustment on their sales and use tax return for August 2025.

Missouri joins pink tax revolution

In the transaction tax world, “pink tax” refers to sales and use taxes on products and services designed specifically for women or girls, such as menstrual products. The term is also sometimes used to describe sales taxes on items like baby and nursing products, diapers, and incontinence products.

With the enactment of HB 594, Missouri joins a growing number of states to eliminate one or more pink taxes. Another pink tax change comes into effect on September 1, 2025, when Alabama starts exempting diapers, maternity clothing, and menstrual hygiene products.

At least 15 other states considered pink tax exemptions in 2025. You can read about them in the Avalara Tax Changes 2025 midyear update.

Midmonth sales tax changes can complicate compliance

The Missouri sales tax exemption for diapers, feminine hygiene products, and incontinence products comes into effect on August 28, 2025. A midmonth tax change like this can complicate sales and use tax compliance for affected businesses.

“Nonstandard dates for tax changes — anything that doesn’t cleanly fall on the month’s boundaries — tend to be disruptive,” says Avery Smith, Statutory Review and Readiness Project Manager at Avalara. “They can also be confusing for taxpayers. If I was a taxpayer, I might not remember that a new sales tax exemption takes effect on a random Thursday.”

Smith adds that Missouri’s new sales tax exemption isn’t too complicated in and of itself, “but with nonstandard dates like this, there’s a mixed bag of data. Having businesses collect tax on affected products from August 1 through 27 but not from August 28 through 31 is a compliance risk for businesses and preparers.”

Bottom line

Keeping up with tax changes can eat up a lot of time and resources, especially for companies that sell a variety of products into multiple states. To comply with the Missouri exemption, for example, businesses should update point-of-sale (POS) and ERP systems and ensure their tax engines or rate tables apply the change on the correct date.

Sales tax software can ease the compliance burden for businesses. “Avalara AvaTax has tax codes for diapers, feminine hygiene products, and incontinence products,” explains David Lingerfelt, Senior Director of Indirect Tax at Avalara, “so AvaTax will calculate sales tax — and the new sales tax exemption — correctly for customers who have their inventory mapped to the correct tax codes.”

To see that in action, take a self-guided demo of Avalara AvaTax.

FAQ

The Missouri sales and use tax exemption for diapers, feminine hygiene products, and incontinence products takes effect on August 28, 2025.

Missouri’s new sales tax exemption applies to both adult and child diapers. HB 594 defines “diapers” as “absorbent garments worn by infants or toddlers who are not toilet-trained or by individuals who are incapable of controlling their bladder or bowel movements.”

With respect to the sales tax exemption, “feminine hygiene products” mean “personal care products used to manage menstrual flow including, but not limited to, tampons, pads, liners, and cups.”

Missouri law defines “incontinence products” as “products designed specifically for hygiene matters related to urinary incontinence.” These include protective undergarments external catheters, and underpads.

Effective August 28, 2025, retailers “will report the sales as a negative adjustment on their sales or use tax return and will no longer need to report these sales as part of their taxable sales.” See the Missouri Department of Revenue for more details.

Consumers who notice sales tax was applied to an exempt product at checkout can ask the retailer to remove the tax. Otherwise, consumers may request a refund from the seller or submit a claim for a refund to the Missouri Department of Revenue.

Sales tax rates, rules, and regulations change frequently. Although we hope you'll find this information helpful, this blog is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal or tax advice.