Government Announces Abysmal 378% Tax Hike
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced during the Budget speech that the UK will see a flat-rate tax applied to all eliquid bottles from the 1st October 2026
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by Dave Cross
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Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced during the Budget speech that the UK will see a flat-rate tax applied to all eliquid bottles from the 1st October 2026. The HM Treasury said: “We want to discourage non-smokers and young people from taking up vaping. We’re introducing a vaping duty for the first time at £2.20 per 10ml of liquid. Plus, a one-off tobacco duty rise to keep the incentive to choose refillable vaping over smoking.”
We looked at the Vape Club website to gauge how the new tax is going to impact vapers
Premium brand users
For anyone using juices such as Five Pawns Grandmaster, retailing at £5.99, the tax rise will equate to 37% - and a final price of £8.19.
Budget deal users
Vapers buying 4 bottles for £10 will see a tax rise equating to 88%, having to now pay £18.80.
Those buying budget juices will be the worst hit for those buying nicotine containing eliquids. 88 Vape Liquids cost £1 per 10ml bottle, this will go up to £3.20, a tax rise equating to 220%.
Shortfill users
But it is the shortfill users who are going to be slammed the hardest
A Joe's Juice 200ml bottle of nicotine-free Passion Fruit Guava & Kiwi currently costs £14.99 – this will rise by £44.00 to £58.99.
The cheapest nicshot (£1) will rise to £3.20; the final price of the shortfill plus shots will come to £71.79 – a tax hike of 378%
The recently released consultation document confirms that shortfills and other nicotine-free juices are to be considered the same as nicotine containing eliquids: “Vaping products will be considered ‘manufactured’ at the point the final product is made. In many cases this will be when vaping liquid has been composed from its ingredients. For example, for a typical liquid, once propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, flavourings and, if relevant, nicotine are combined. This would be the point at which products are charged with duty. All vaping products will be within the scope of the duty including those produced at home from base ingredients, such as propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, flavourings and nicotine.”
Planet of the Vapes will be covering the Budget responses and implications in fine detail next week. In the meantime, write to your local MP explaining how you feel about this outrageous tax that will fuel black market sales, deter smokers from switching, and drive ex-smokers back to cigarettes.
Photo Credit:
Logo and tweet from HM Treasury, juice image from Vape Club
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.
