That’s where the Tampon Tax Back Coalition comes in. The initiative was first started by period care brand August in May of 2023, when their products hit Target and they could no longer absorb the taxes themselves, which they’d been doing to the best of their ability since June of 2021. “From the very beginning, we never charged the tampon tax wherever possible,” Nadya Okamoto, co-founder of August, tells Refinery29. “For the first time, at a national scale, we lost that control over the point of purchase where we could do anything about [the tax]. That didn’t sit right with us since, from the beginning, it’s always been our value to take a stand against the tampon tax. We quickly mobilized and found a way of being able to reimburse people for the exact amount that they’re charged in the tampon tax.”