The Vaping Products Duty (VPD) – What we know & what we think.

What is the Vaping Products Duty (VPD)? 

In the budget announced on March 6th, the chancellor announced a new duty on vaping. This duty will come into force from October 2026.

Update (2026 Guide):
Since this article was first published, more information has been confirmed about the upcoming vape tax. For a full breakdown of how the UK Vape Tax 2026 will affect e-liquid prices and vaping products, read our updated guide here:
👉 UK Vape Tax 2026 Explained

The rates for the vape duty will be:

• £1 per 10ml for nicotine free liquids.
• £2 per 10ml for 0.1-10.9mg nicotine per ml liquids.
• £3 per 10ml for 11-20mg nicotine per ml liquids.

The government will also be bringing in another increase on tobacco, which will increase 100 cigarettes or 50 grams of tobacco by £2 from October 2026.

There is a 12-week consultation period on the policy design and technical details which has been launched.

You can read through the budget here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2024

So what do we think the consequences will be of this vaping duty? 

• For starters. the cost of vaping will immediately increase. This could lead to a decline in vaping rates, and in turn, increase the amount of people smoking again.
• Further to the first point, this could increase the amount of people turning to dangerous, illicit vapes on the black market.
• This vape duty prices out many younger people from vaping & we know from all the research that unfortunately, many young people have started vaping recently with the rise of single use (disposable) vape devices. Clearly, this trend was not a good thing, and something that this duty is attempting to address. However, this new duty leaves these young people, who are now addicted to nicotine, with a big problem going forward.
•  Vaping has been shown as a great harm reducer for cigarette smokers, with Public Health England stating it is at least 95% safer than smoking cigarettes. (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5b6c3f57ed915d30f140f822/Ecigarettes_an_evidence_update_A_report_commissioned_by_Public_Health_England_FINAL.pdf). 

As mentioned earlier, we would expect many people to turn back to smoking cigarettes when this duty comes into force. For public health, this is a disaster and goes against the government’s plan to create a smoke free generation by 2030.

Updated Information

The UK government’s vaping tax policy has developed further since this article was first written.

You can read our full updated guide covering the UK Vape Tax 2026, including how the £0.22 per ml duty could increase e-liquid prices across the UK.

👉 Read the full UK Vape Tax 2026 breakdown