UK Vape Tax 2026: How Much E-Liquid Is Going Up and When

From 1 October 2026, every 10ml of e-liquid sold in the UK picks up a £2.20 excise duty. Add VAT on top and the real increase is £2.64 per 10ml. That's on everything, 0mg included, because the government went with a flat rate based on volume rather than nicotine content.

It's called the Vaping Products Duty (VPD) and it works the same way as duty on alcohol or tobacco. First time e-liquid has ever carried its own excise charge in the UK.

How Much Is Vape Juice Going Up

Depends on what you buy. A 10ml nic salt roughly doubles in price. Shortfills get hammered.

Those numbers assume the full duty lands on the customer. Some brands will absorb part of it, so real prices will vary.

If you're on nic salts, the duty nearly matches the cost of the liquid itself. Shortfill buyers take the worst of it because duty is charged on every 10ml in the bottle, and a 100ml has ten of them.

Vape kits, coils, empty pods, tanks, and batteries stay untaxed. The duty is on liquid only.

Does the UK Vape Tax Apply to 0mg E-Liquid

Yes, and this is the part that caught a lot of people off guard. 0mg shortfills, CBD vape liquids, any liquid made for vaping, all taxed at the same £2.20 per 10ml as a 20mg nic salt.

The original proposal under Jeremy Hunt was a tiered rate based on nicotine strength. Labour scrapped that and went flat rate by volume instead. So nicotine content makes no difference to what you pay.

When Does the UK Vape Tax Start

On top of the tax itself, every bottle and pod of e-liquid will need a physical duty stamp on the packaging from October 2026. Same idea as the stamps you see on tobacco and spirits. HMRC has appointed Cartor Security Printers to supply them. After 31 March 2027, selling unstamped stock could mean civil or criminal penalties.

Current UK E-Liquid Regulations

Before the vape tax even arrives, e-liquid already sits under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR). These carried over from the EU's TPD after Brexit and have been the baseline since 2016.

Shortfills exist because of the 10ml bottle rule. They're sold nicotine free at 50ml or 100ml, and you add a separate nic shot. After October 2026, both the shortfill and the nic shot carry the vape tax on their own volumes.

Ecigone has a full guide to UK vaping laws and TPD regulations if you want the detail. There's also a 2025 to 2026 legislation compliance guide covering the disposable ban and what changed.

What This Means for Ecigone Customers

We'll do everything we can to keep prices as low as possible on bottled and prefilled e-liquid. That's always been the Ecigone approach and a new tax doesn't change it.

If you're a regular buyer, stocking up before October 2026 is worth thinking about while current prices hold. Once the duty kicks in, it makes sense to let the market settle and see what comes through. Brands are already working on super concentrated longfills and other formats to offset the shortfill price jump. New options should start appearing over the coming months.

Shortfill vapers get the roughest deal here. Many of them have been vaping for over a decade and kept the industry alive through every regulation change since TPD landed. Over £26 in extra duty on a 100ml bottle is a hard pill. But vaping still costs a fraction of what smoking does, and the industry has adapted to everything thrown at it since 2016. It'll adapt to this too.