It’s a taxing time for sweethearts in China.

After a 30-year exemption, the country is slapping a 13% sales tax on condoms, birth control pills and devices, hoping to boost its declining birth rates and offset the long-term impact of an aging population and declining workforce.

And with contraception more expensive under the new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2026, officials are hoping other financial incentives help usher in a baby boom.

On Jan. 1, 2026, China is slapping a 13% sales tax on condoms, birth control pills and devices. South China Morning Post via Getty Images

Changes include making childcare services, elder care institutions and disability service providers tax exempt; offering extended maternity leave , which varies across the country but has gone from 128 days

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