When Does the Vape Tax Start? The 2026 to 2027 Timeline

The UK vape tax started on 1 October 2026. Since that day, vape liquid made in or imported into the UK carries Vaping Products Duty of £2.20 per 10ml (22p per ml), with VAT added on top, so £2.64 per 10ml in total. Shops can sell older products without the duty until 31 March 2027, and from 1 April 2027 every vape on sale must carry a duty stamp.

This page sets out what changed on the day and every date still to come. To see what the duty adds to a particular bottle, pod or kit, use our vape tax calculator.

What changed on 1 October 2026

• The duty began. 22p per millilitre on vape liquid, which is £2.64 per 10ml once VAT is added. 0mg liquid pays the same rate.

• Tobacco duty rose the same day. A one-off £2.20 per 100 cigarettes or per 50 grams of tobacco, on top of the usual yearly rise, so vaping stays cheaper than smoking.

• A 50ml travel allowance began. Arriving in Great Britain, you can bring up to 50ml of vape liquid for your own use without paying duty. Above that, you declare it and pay duty on the full amount. Northern Ireland has different rules.

• Duty stamps arrived. Products made or imported from 1 October carry a stamp on the outer packaging. Until 31 December 2026 these can be transitional stamps, which have physical security features only.

When does tax go on vape juice in the shops?

Not all at once. Shops can sell products made or imported before 1 October 2026 without the duty until 31 March 2027, so prices step up as those sell through, fastest on the popular e-liquid flavours. Products made or imported since 1 October carry the duty straight away.

We have pre-duty products on some lines until 31 March 2027 or until they sell out. The saving is biggest on large bottles: a pre-duty 100ml shortfill carries no duty, while the same bottle duty-paid carries £26.40 of duty and VAT.

The vape tax timeline

Date	What happens
1 October 2026	The duty starts at £2.20 per 10ml. New products carry a duty stamp
31 December 2026	Last day transitional stamps can be put on products
1 January 2027	Only digital stamps, which carry a scannable code, can be put on new products
31 March 2027	Last day shops can sell older, unstamped products
1 April 2027	Every vape on sale must carry a duty stamp. Shops must not sell unstamped vaping products

From 1 April 2027 the stamp is the simplest check that a vape has paid its duty. Our duty stamps guide explains what the stamp is and how to check one.

How to keep the vape tax down

The duty is charged on every millilitre, so the way to pay less is to use fewer millilitres or buy them before the duty applies.

1. Work out how much you vape

We measured it across almost 18,000 of our own customers, and the typical vaper uses 5.7 to 10.3ml a day, with prefilled pod users well under that and sub-ohm vapers well over. At 26.4p per ml, every millilitre a day adds about £8 a month in duty and VAT. Our study of how much e-liquid vapers use has the full figures.

2. Look at your kit

A low-power pod kit on nic salts uses far less liquid than a sub-ohm setup, and the tax drops with it.

3. Remember 0mg is taxed too

The rate is flat, with or without nicotine, so zero nicotine liquid and nicotine free vapes pay the same 22p per millilitre.

Our guide to the cheapest ways to vape after the tax costs every format per millilitre, with the duty included.

Vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking but it is not risk-free, and it is intended for adult smokers and existing vapers. If you do not smoke, do not vape.