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From 1 October 2026, HMRC's new Vaping Products Duty will add £2.20 per 10ml to vape liquid sold in the UK, with 20% VAT added on top. Unlike cigarettes, where prices have risen gradually over many years, the vape tax lands all at once with no phased introduction — meaning the price jump could feel sudden and significant. Use our calculator to see how much your usual vapes may cost after the tax kicks in.
Two separate things take effect on 1 October 2026: the duty itself (VPD) and the stamps scheme that polices it (VDS). Here's the difference.
VPD (Vaping Products Duty) is a new HMRC excise duty on any vaping liquid sold in the UK. It applies whether the liquid is in a 10ml bottle, a 2ml prefilled pod, a 50ml shortfill, or built into the tank of a big-puff kit.
Source: GOV.UK — VPD policy paper
Every retail pack that has cleared VPD (Vaping Products Duty) must carry a duty stamp. It's the same idea as the small tax stamp on a bottle of spirits — a physical signal to HMRC, the trade and consumers that the duty has been paid.
Source: GOV.UK — VDS scheme information
The government says it's to help stop young people taking up vaping, and to bring vape prices a little closer to cigarettes — while still keeping vaping cheaper, so people don't go back to smoking.
It also raises money: the tax is expected to bring in around £500 million a year by the end of the decade.
Tell us roughly how much liquid you get through. We'll do the maths and show what the duty will add to your monthly and yearly spend.
Yes. Even with the new tax, vaping is still expected to cost less than smoking. The gap just gets a bit smaller.
The main change is that you might pay a bit more in one go when you buy your liquid — but over a whole month it still works out cheaper than cigarettes.
Three dates worth pinning to the fridge. Everything HMRC has confirmed in one place.
£2.20/10ml duty starts charging. New duty-stamped stock begins entering the supply chain.
Duty stamps must be applied to retail packs of products that have cleared duty under VPD (Vaping Products Duty). We'll still have pre-tax stock on the shelves during this period, so you may keep finding older-priced products until it sells out.
All vaping products outside duty suspension in the UK must carry a vaping duty stamp.
Between October 2026 and April 2027, shops are allowed to sell older stock (bought before the tax) next to newer stock (with the tax added).
So for a while, you might see the same product at two different prices, depending on when we got it in. It's not a mistake — it's just old and new stock sitting side by side. Once the older stock sells out, prices settle down.
Stock that's already cleared the supply chain pre-October isn't re-taxed at retail. The simplest way to lock in today's prices is to top up your usual products now.
Click any question to expand. These answers are also marked up as FAQ schema so Google can show them directly in search.
The duty won't hit every shop equally.
Bigger sellers like us generally have more room to manoeuvre — we can forecast demand, buy stock early, and ride out the initial bumps without passing everything straight on.
For smaller independent shops, that breathing room is often harder to come by.
Few businesses have all three to spare.
The result is real strain — on shelf prices, on how much choice they can offer, and on whether some shops stay open at all. Given time, that could change the shape of the whole market.
See how much tax is added to nic salts, prefilled pod kits, and shortfills after 1 October 2026. Type in a quantity, change the multi-buy mix, and watch the post-tax total update live.
