Vaping Products Duty came into effect on 1 October 2026. It adds £2.20 of excise duty to every 10ml of vaping liquid, with or without nicotine, and products made or imported from that date must carry a vaping duty stamp.
The UK's new vape tax is no longer on the way. It is here. Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme both started on 1 October 2026, and between them they change two things for anyone who vapes: what e-liquid costs, and what the packaging looks like.
What is Vaping Products Duty?
Vaping Products Duty is a UK excise duty of £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid, charged whether the liquid contains nicotine or not. It is the first excise duty the UK has placed on vaping, the same kind of tax already applied to alcohol and tobacco. VAT still applies on top.
The duty is paid by manufacturers, importers and warehousekeepers approved by HMRC, not by you at the till. Whether that cost is passed on to retailers and customers is each business's own commercial decision, according to HMRC.
The government's stated aim is to make vaping less affordable and less appealing, especially to young people and non-smokers. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that the duty will raise more than £550 million a year by 2030-31. The duty was announced at Spring Budget 2024 and confirmed, along with its rate, at Autumn Budget 2024.
What changed on 1 October 2026?
Four things changed on 1 October 2026: the duty started, duty stamps launched, a travellers' allowance arrived, and tobacco duty went up.
Vaping Products Duty: £2.20 per 10ml on all vaping liquid made in or imported into the UK from that date.
Vaping duty stamps: stamps begin to appear on retail packaging.
Travellers' allowance: 50ml of vaping liquid can be brought into Great Britain without duty or tax.
Tobacco duty: a one-off rise of £2.20 per 100 cigarettes or per 50g of tobacco.
When does each rule start? Key dates
The rules phase in over six months, from 1 October 2026 to 1 April 2027.
How much does Vaping Products Duty add to vape prices?
Vaping Products Duty adds £2.20 per 10ml, which is 22p per millilitre. With 20% VAT on top, that comes to £2.64 per 10ml if a business passes the full cost on.
These figures are the duty, not the shelf price. What you pay depends on how much of the cost each manufacturer and retailer passes on. Prices will not all move on the same day either, because stock that arrived before 1 October is still being sold.
Which vape products carry the duty?
Every product that contains vaping liquid carries the duty. Hardware sold empty does not. HMRC's definition covers liquid in bottles, cartridges and pods, with or without nicotine. It also covers substances intended for vaping, such as propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerine (VG) and flavourings.
Duty applies to:
Nic salt, freebase and 50/50 e-liquids in 10ml bottles
Shortfills, including nicotine-free 0mg liquid
Nicotine shots
Prefilled pods and prefilled pod kits
Duty does not apply to refillable kits, mods, tanks, coils, batteries and empty refillable pods. The duty is worked out on liquid volume, so a device with no liquid in it has nothing to charge.
What is a vaping duty stamp and what does it look like?
A vaping duty stamp is a yellow or red, tamper-evident, rectangular security label that helps identify a legitimate vaping product. It is fixed to the outside of the retail pack so the pack cannot be opened without breaking the stamp or the packaging.
Stamps come in two versions. Transitional stamps have physical security features only and can be applied until 31 December 2026. Digital stamps add a scannable code that traces the product through the supply chain.
HMRC says retailers and customers will be able to scan digital stamps to check a product is authentic "in due course". It has not given a date. You will find stamps on bottles, prefilled pods and prefilled devices, because those are the products that contain liquid.
Can shops still sell vapes without a duty stamp?
Yes, until 31 March 2027, as long as the stock was produced or imported before 1 October 2026. HMRC has given wholesalers and retailers a six-month grace period to sell through older stock. During that time you will see stamped and unstamped products side by side in legitimate UK vape shops. Both are legal.
The grace period ends on 1 April 2027. From that date every vaping product on sale must carry a valid stamp, and HMRC can seize unstamped goods and charge penalties. Its advice to consumers from then on is simple: buy only duty-stamped vaping products.
How do you spot and report illicit vapes?
Spot an illicit vape by checking the duty stamp and the seal, and report it to HMRC or Trading Standards. A missing stamp is not a warning sign on its own during the grace period. A stamp that looks damaged, re-used, altered or stuck to the wrong part of the pack is.
The stamps exist to cut illicit trade. The government is also putting £30 million a year into Trading Standards, Border Force and HMRC until 2028-29 to tackle illicit and underage sales of tobacco and vapes.
You can report a product you think is illicit through the "report tax fraud" service on GOV.UK, or to your local Trading Standards office.
What are the new rules for bringing vapes into the UK?
You can bring up to 50ml of vaping liquid into Great Britain for personal use without paying duty or tax. The rule started on 1 October 2026 and differs for Northern Ireland.
Great Britain: 50ml. Bring more and you must declare it and pay duty on the full amount.
Northern Ireland from a non-EU country: vaping products count towards the £390 allowance for other goods, or £270 if you arrive by private plane or boat.
Northern Ireland from an EU country: products must be for personal use, and extra checks may apply above 200ml.
Did tobacco duty go up as well?
Yes. Tobacco duty rose on 1 October 2026 by a one-off £2.20 per 100 cigarettes or per 50g of tobacco, on top of the usual annual increase. The usual increase is the tobacco duty escalator, set at RPI inflation plus 2 percentage points. The government says the extra rise keeps a financial incentive for people who smoke to switch to vaping.
What should vapers do now?
Check the pack, know the dates, and look at how much liquid your setup uses.
1.Check new purchases for a yellow or red duty stamp sealing the pack.
2.Expect a mix of stamped and unstamped stock until 31 March 2027.
3.Buy only duty-stamped products from 1 April 2027.
4.Count your liquid before you fly home. 50ml is the Great Britain limit.
5.Review your setup, if the cost of liquid matters to you.
The duty is the same 22p per millilitre whatever format you buy, so it does not favour bottles over pods. What it does is make the amount of liquid you get through matter more. Lower-powered mouth-to-lung kits use less liquid than sub-ohm setups, and the kit itself carries no duty.
Frequently asked questions
When did the UK vape tax start?
The UK vape tax, officially Vaping Products Duty, started on 1 October 2026. It applies to vaping liquid manufactured in or imported into the UK from that date.
How much is Vaping Products Duty?
Vaping Products Duty is £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid, or 22p per millilitre. VAT is charged on top, which brings the total to £2.64 per 10ml if the full cost is passed on.
Does the duty apply to nicotine-free e-liquid?
Yes. The duty applies to all vaping liquid whether it contains nicotine or not, so a 0mg shortfill carries the same £2.20 per 10ml as a 20mg nic salt.
What colour is a vaping duty stamp?
A vaping duty stamp is yellow or red. It is a rectangular, tamper-evident label, 42mm long and 18mm wide, fixed to the outermost retail packaging.
Is it legal to sell vapes without a duty stamp?
Yes, until 31 March 2027, provided the stock was produced or imported before 1 October 2026. From 1 April 2027 every vaping product sold in the UK must carry a valid duty stamp.
Do vape kits and coils carry Vaping Products Duty?
No. The duty is charged on vaping liquid. Kits, mods, tanks, coils, batteries and empty refillable pods contain no liquid, so they carry VAT only. Prefilled pods and prefilled kits do carry the duty, because they contain liquid.
How do I report illicit vapes?
Report suspected illicit vapes to HMRC through the "report tax fraud" service on GOV.UK, or contact your local Trading Standards office.
Did tobacco duty increase on 1 October 2026?
Yes. Tobacco duty rose by a one-off £2.20 per 100 cigarettes or per 50g of tobacco on 1 October 2026, in addition to the standard tobacco duty escalator.