Old Goat
Administrator
On 1 October 2026, the UK’s new Vaping Products Duty comes into force.
The rate is £2.20 for every 10ml of vaping liquid manufactured in or imported into the UK. Nicotine or no nicotine, it makes no difference. The bottle gets taxed according to volume.
The government says this is intended to tackle youth vaping, improve public health and help create a smoke-free generation.
Lovely words. Shame about the arithmetic.
If the full duty reaches the customer:
That is before shops and manufacturers deal with the extra administration, stamps, storage rules and inevitable compliance costs.
Now explain to me how hammering a 100ml bottle of nicotine-free shortfill with £22 in duty specifically tackles youth vaping.
Take your time. I’ll put the kettle on.
A flat charge per millilitre makes no distinction between a high-strength liquid designed for a small pod and a large bottle containing no nicotine at all.
It taxes volume.
Who commonly buys larger volumes? Adults using refillable devices. Hobbyists. DIY mixers. People who have moved away from cigarettes and found a system that works for them.
Meanwhile, the tiny prefilled pod does not attract the same total duty because there is less liquid in it.
That does not prove everyone will suddenly abandon refillables, but it certainly changes the incentives. The cleaner, reusable system is hit according to how much liquid passes through it, while the small convenience product carries a much smaller total charge.
Brilliant. Tax the bottle and hope the battery-powered rubbish heap sorts itself out.
Duty stamps will begin appearing from 1 October. Existing eligible unstamped stock can still be sold during the six-month transition ending on 31 March 2027, but liquids manufactured or imported from 1 October onward must enter the new system.
From 1 April 2027, all vaping products offered for sale in the UK will need the appropriate valid stamp.
I understand the argument for traceability. A proper supply chain should make it harder for mystery-liquid merchants and back-alley sellers to peddle whatever colourful rubbish they dragged in through the nearest loophole.
But traceability and taxation are not the same thing.
You can require proper ingredients, batch records, responsible packaging and verified adult sales without pretending every extra millilitre is a public-health threat.
Children should not vape. Non-smokers should not start. I do not want cartoon packaging, schoolyard dealers or shops selling high-strength products to anyone with lunch money and a pulse.
Enforce the age laws.
Fine the shops that ignore them.
Go after the importers bringing in illegal products.
Stop companies designing products and advertising campaigns aimed at teenagers.
Those are targeted measures.
Charging an adult ex-smoker another £22 on a 100ml bottle is not targeted. It is a toll booth placed on the road away from cigarettes.
Governments keep telling smokers to quit. Then, when some of them find a less harmful alternative that works, the accountants arrive carrying stamps, calculators and a fresh definition of “help.”
Protect children properly. Regulate the cowboys properly. Keep vaping for adult smokers who need it.
But stop treating every bottle on an adult vaper’s desk as though it has been found behind the bicycle shed.
Source:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...-duty-and-the-vaping-duty-stamps-scheme-start
— Old Goat
The rate is £2.20 for every 10ml of vaping liquid manufactured in or imported into the UK. Nicotine or no nicotine, it makes no difference. The bottle gets taxed according to volume.
The government says this is intended to tackle youth vaping, improve public health and help create a smoke-free generation.
Lovely words. Shame about the arithmetic.
If the full duty reaches the customer:
- 10ml carries £2.20 in duty.
- 100ml carries £22 in duty.
- One 10ml bottle a week means £114.40 a year in duty alone.
That is before shops and manufacturers deal with the extra administration, stamps, storage rules and inevitable compliance costs.
Now explain to me how hammering a 100ml bottle of nicotine-free shortfill with £22 in duty specifically tackles youth vaping.
Take your time. I’ll put the kettle on.
Taxing volume, not dependency
A flat charge per millilitre makes no distinction between a high-strength liquid designed for a small pod and a large bottle containing no nicotine at all.
It taxes volume.
Who commonly buys larger volumes? Adults using refillable devices. Hobbyists. DIY mixers. People who have moved away from cigarettes and found a system that works for them.
Meanwhile, the tiny prefilled pod does not attract the same total duty because there is less liquid in it.
That does not prove everyone will suddenly abandon refillables, but it certainly changes the incentives. The cleaner, reusable system is hit according to how much liquid passes through it, while the small convenience product carries a much smaller total charge.
Brilliant. Tax the bottle and hope the battery-powered rubbish heap sorts itself out.
The stampede begins
Duty stamps will begin appearing from 1 October. Existing eligible unstamped stock can still be sold during the six-month transition ending on 31 March 2027, but liquids manufactured or imported from 1 October onward must enter the new system.
From 1 April 2027, all vaping products offered for sale in the UK will need the appropriate valid stamp.
I understand the argument for traceability. A proper supply chain should make it harder for mystery-liquid merchants and back-alley sellers to peddle whatever colourful rubbish they dragged in through the nearest loophole.
But traceability and taxation are not the same thing.
You can require proper ingredients, batch records, responsible packaging and verified adult sales without pretending every extra millilitre is a public-health threat.
If this is about children, deal with the adults selling to them
Children should not vape. Non-smokers should not start. I do not want cartoon packaging, schoolyard dealers or shops selling high-strength products to anyone with lunch money and a pulse.
Enforce the age laws.
Fine the shops that ignore them.
Go after the importers bringing in illegal products.
Stop companies designing products and advertising campaigns aimed at teenagers.
Those are targeted measures.
Charging an adult ex-smoker another £22 on a 100ml bottle is not targeted. It is a toll booth placed on the road away from cigarettes.
Governments keep telling smokers to quit. Then, when some of them find a less harmful alternative that works, the accountants arrive carrying stamps, calculators and a fresh definition of “help.”
Protect children properly. Regulate the cowboys properly. Keep vaping for adult smokers who need it.
But stop treating every bottle on an adult vaper’s desk as though it has been found behind the bicycle shed.
Source:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...-duty-and-the-vaping-duty-stamps-scheme-start
— Old Goat
