Exact date new vaping rule will come into force – leaving buyers £137 out of pocket

A MAJOR new vaping rule is being introduced in just three weeks’ time – and could see regular users lose over £100 a year. The cost of popular products is set to be hiked from next month. Regular vapers will see prices of their favourite products increase from next month Credit: Getty From October 1, a new Vaping Products Duty is set to come into force, bringing a flat-rate fee to numerous popular products. In exactly three weeks time, all e-liquid items produced in or imported into the UK will carry a 22p per millilitre fee (26.4p per ml with the addition of VAT), regardless of the amount of nicotine it contains. Sign up for the Health newsletter Thank you! This applies across all formats, including nic salts, freebase liquids, shortfills, and prefilled pods, while devices and hardware remain unaffected. With VAT included on top of the new duty fee, regular vapers may now be charged an additional £137 every year – at a minimum. Coming as part of the Government’s plan to reduce the affordability of vaping, Marina Murphy, the head of external affairs UK and scientific affairs at Haypp, said the amount a person spends on vaping products is down to the products they use. She said: “A consumer who typically purchases a 10ml bottle of e-liquid for £3 would see an initial £2.20 added in duty. “When the associated VAT on that duty is included, a further 44p, the retail price could jump from £3 to £5.64, representing a staggering 88% increase if retailers pass the full cost on. “For those who use just one 10ml bottle of e-liquid per week, this £2.64 weekly hike translates to roughly £11.44 every month, or £137.28 annually.” Most read in Health As a result of the nationwide excise tax, a number of popular vaping products will see some of the highest price hikes. For example, one Lost Mary BM6000 Prefilled Pod Kit could cost an additional £3.16 a week, equating to more than £164 a year. Retailers will have a six-month sell-through period to get rid of any remaining stock, which is set to conclude on March 31, 2027. Cigarette prices are also expected to rise on October 1 due to a tobacco duty increase, increasing by around £1.21 to a standard pack of 20 and £2.54 to a 30g packet of hand-rolling tobacco. The UK is also not the first country to implement a vape duty. In 2025, Ireland implemented its own version which resulted in a flat rate of €0.50 per millilitre. This saw the price of a typical 10ml bottle jump to almost €10 (depending on the retailer and brand), from the previously priced €4. Comment now