No To the Vape Tax
The New Nicotine Alliance and Vapers.org.uk have set up the No Vape Tax website to campaign against the ridiculous tax proposals aimed at getting people to vape more weak e-liquid
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by Dave Cross
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The organisers of No Vape Tax aim to fight the proposed UK government tax on e-liquid, it is a joint project being coordinated by the New Nicotine Alliance and Vapers.org.uk. Both of the consumer organisations say that they are “concerned that the proposed vape tax will punish smokers who want to quit smoking and also vapers who use these products to avoid returning to smoking”.
With both the New Nicotine Alliance and Vapers.org.uk staffed by volunteers, this campaign is solely reliant on donations from you – vapers.
The New Nicotine Alliance is Britain’s only charity dedicated to improving individual, organisational and public understanding of what is known as ‘tobacco harm reduction’.
The charity says: “We wish to see a mature public and organisational understanding of the potential of safer nicotine products for reducing cigarette smoking, including their safety and efficacy, and hence contribute to the reduction in cigarette smoking.
“This requires engaging with and informing a wide range of individuals and audiences – from health through to regulatory bodies.”
Vapers.org.uk says it is “a website run by vapers for vapers, collecting news and comments from around the world with regard to vaping. We are all volunteers and not funded in anyway by any aspect of ‘Big Industry’ whether electronic cigarettes, tobacco or pharmaceutical.”
The announcement of new taxes on e-liquid was made by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the spring budget. It is due to be implemented in October 2026 following a consultation period. The proposed e-liquid tax will consist of three rates for every 10ml of e-liquid sold:
- nicotine-free products - extra £1 duty
- nicotine less than 11mg/ml - extra £2 duty
- high nicotine at least 11mg/ml - extra £3 duty
New Nicotine Alliance and Vapers.org.uk point out an often-overlooked fact is that the additional tax will be subject to VAT. They say:
- A 10ml bottle of 20mg nicotine salt e-liquid which currently retails around £3.99 will increase to £6.99 with the tax added. On top of that an additional 60p will be added for VAT.
- A 100ml shortfill (nicotine free) bottle of e-liquid currently retailing at £9.99 will increase to £19.99. Plus £2 in VAT will be added. You will also need to factor in the price of Nicotine Shots which will be priced at the 10ml rates above.
They say: “Will you, or someone you know, be affected by the proposed new UK vape tax? We are looking for testimonials of up to 100 words to publish on our campaign website. Please email [email protected] to submit your thoughts. #NoVapeTax”
The campaign is being funded solely by vapers through the New Nicotine Alliance’s Go Fund Me site - https://www.gofundme.com/f/raise-for-nna
For further information about the campaign and actions you can take to protest the unfair vape tax, visit the No Vape Tax website - https://novapetax.uk/.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
