Vaping products are subject to excise duty by virtue of being a tobacco product and have historically been treated lightly in comparison to cigarettes and other tobacco products when it comes to excise duty payable. The new schemes will introduce new vape controls into the marketplace.

Non-excise duty will also be imposed on vaping products that do not contain an excisable product. 

The new schemes, both requiring HMRC authorisation to operate, come into force on 1^st October. Affected businesses are required to register to run the new schemes, with applications opening on 1^st April 2026.

Details

Vaping Products Duty will be introduced at a flat rate of £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid, with duty stamps on vaping products.

Vape goods for import could therefore attract 6% duty and an additional £2.20 per 10ml of liquid if the liquid is subject to excise duty.

HMRC Business Approvals Required:

From 1^st April 2026: Businesses will be required to apply for HMRC approval if involved in any of the following:

• The manufacture of vaping products
• Importing vaping products
• Storage of duty-suspended vaping products

Approvals must be in place well before the Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme come into effect. 

Approval registration opens on 1^st April. With approval lead times of up to 45 days and a requirement to be in place before the end of September, HMRC is urging all affected businesses to prepare immediately to avoid potential disruption to their trading activities.

Guidance Published 10^th February 2026

To support the introduction of the two new schemes, HMRC have published a comprehensive Stakeholder Communication Pack on their guidance page.

The guidance and Pack can be found at the link below:

Stakeholder Communications pack. 

The pack includes an HMRC YouTube video that can be found here:  video, with further guidance information to be found here: www.gov.uk/vaping-duty