ASH Welcomes Idiotic Tax
The tax increases on tobacco and vape eliquids has been “welcomed” by health charity Action on Smoking and Health, marking the completion of its transition into an anti-vape organisation
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by Dave Cross
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The tax increases on tobacco and vape eliquids has been “welcomed” by health charity Action on Smoking and Health, marking the completion of its transition into an anti-vape organisation. The short-sighted position fails to appreciate how a tax levy approaching 400% on some products will have the unintended consequences of turning smokers away from vaping and feeding a buoyant black market.
The Government confirmed the following changes to taxation on tobacco and vapes:
- A tobacco tax escalator of RPI + 2% and RPI +12% for hand-rolled tobacco
- A flat-rate tax of £2.20 per 10ml bottle of vape liquid, regardless of nicotine content, to be introduced from October 2026
- A one-off increase for tobacco tax in October 2026 that claims to maintain a price differential between vaping and tobacco products
Action on Smoking and Health says the increase in tax on tobacco products will “incentivise smokers to switch”.
“This will raise the price of 100 cigarettes and 50 grams of hand-rolled tobacco by £2.20. This is estimated to be equivalent to the value of the tax on vape liquid.”
But will it?
The charity appears to be ignoring the real world impact of the £2.20 per 10ml tax, the independent research highlighting how taxes achieve the opposite, and how restrictions have led to violence and murder in Australia.
Chief Executive, Hazel Cheeseman commented: “Continued tobacco tax rises are necessary to encourage smokers to quit and reduce the burden of smoking on public finances and the economy in the future.”
That’s fine, if you believe it works, but taxing the alternative?
Speaking to that, Cheeseman added: “The vape tax aligns with recommendations we made to government regarding the importance of an excise tax and the necessity of it being a flat rate.
“An excise tax on vapes will reduce access to cheap products for children by both reducing affordability and creating more powers to tackle illegal imports. Border Force and HMRC have been central to the reductions in the illicit tobacco market and will be able now to play the same role on vapes.
“The one-off additional rise in tobacco tax alongside the new vape tax is vital to maintain the price difference and the incentive for smokers to switch to the less harmful products.”
Action on Smoking and He has also been advocating for a levy on tobacco companies – something the Government failed to do. Commenting on its absence from the Budget, Hazel Cheeseman added: “The tax increases we’ve seen today will be felt by customers, not the big tobacco companies. The Chancellor could have raised an additional £700 million through a levy structured to reduce their profitability and cap their prices. We hope this is an opportunity she will take in March.”
Cheeseman and Action on Smoking and Health acknowledge that “the tax increases we’ve seen today will be felt by customers”. So, how does this help quitting? It won’t.
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.
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