Prime Minister David Cameron receives EU support to abolish the tampon tax
Prime Minister David Cameron has secured the support of other EU leaders to pave the way for the UK to abolish the so-called "tampon tax", according to officials.
A deal between the UK and the EU would give the government flexibility to remove the current five per cent VAT rate on sanitary products, replacing it with a zero rate of tax.
The move will appease backbench, eurosceptic MPs who were threatening a rebellion over the levy.
In yesterday's Budget, chancellor George Osborne again pledged to spend the proceeds of the tampon tax on women's charities.
However, Osborne today said that a deal with the EU was close to being reached.
"I perfectly understand people's anger at paying the tampon tax. I said we would get agreement that we could reduce this rate to zero. I think we are on the verge of getting that agreement. I think we are going to get that agreement in the next few days, we hope," he told he told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme.
Following a campaign to end the tax last year, the chancellor had deferred a decision on scrapping it to Europe.