China adds tax to condoms to boost births

China will impose a value-added tax on contraceptive drugs and devices — including condoms — for the first time in three decades, its latest bid to reverse plunging birth rates that threaten to further slow its economy.

- Bloomberg

Under the newly revised Value-Added Tax (VAT) Law, consumers will pay a 13% levy on items that had been VAT-exempt since 1993, when China enforced a strict one-child policy and actively promoted birth control.

At the same time, the revision carves out new incentives for prospective parents by exempting childcare services — from nurseries to kindergartens — as well as eldercare institutions, disability service providers and marriage-related services. The changes take effect in January,