How Much Could Vaping Cost You After the Proposed Vape Tax?
There has been much speculation in the media about the introduction of a potential vape tax being applied in the future, but until now we have known very little about what it might entail, or when it would happen - if at all.
In the recent UK budget announcement however it was revealed that the Conservatives do in fact have a concept for a vape tax, and while the timeline places it outside of their current term of leadership, should they win the next general election (which must be held on or before the 28th january 2025), then it is well worth being prepared for the changes.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Details About The Vape Tax Levy
- Rishi Sunak's Crackdown on Vaping Continues
- How Much Will Vaping Cost Me With The New Vape Tax?
- How Vaping Will Still Be Cheaper Than Smoking
- An Incentive To Cut Down Your Nicotine Strength?
- How To Prepare for the New Vaping Regulations
- Conclusion
Introduction
On March 6 2024, UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his Spring Budget to the House of Commons, laying out the Government's plans for the UK economy in the future. Speculation was made prior to the event that a "vaping tax" would be included in this budget delivered by Mr Hunt, and the speculation was proven to be correct as a vape levy tax formed part of the Chancellor's plans for the UK in the coming years.
In this blog, we are going to go over in detail what exactly this vaping tax entails, as well as looking at what it means for vapers in the future should this tax actually comes into effect.
Details About The Vape Tax Levy
During Jeremy Hunt's speech, he explained a ‘fair and sustainable’ tax system roadmap which was comprised of several different variables that would ultimately drive more money to the Government to be able to spend on valuable resources to help the UK.
Included in this roadmap was the introduction of a levy tax being put on to vaping products as well as a 'one-off' tobacco duty increase alongside this so that vaping remains cheaper than the cost of smoking, despite the prices of vaping increasing.
The details of what this vape tax would entail wasn't revealed during the speech, but an official document release was made from the Government which followed on from the speech in the House of Commons and this highlighted exactly what is coming and when involving the vape tax. It reads as follows:
Vaping Products Duty – "The government will introduce a new duty on vaping products from 1 October 2026, with registrations for the duty opening from 1 April 2026. The rates will be £1.00 per 10ml for nicotine free liquids, £2.00 per 10ml on liquids that contain 0.1-10.9 mg nicotine per ml, and £3.00 per 10ml on liquids that contain 11mg or more per ml. A 12-week public consultation will be published on the policy design and technical details alongside the Spring Budget. The government will also introduce a one-off tobacco duty increase of £2.00 per 100 cigarettes or 50 grams of tobacco from 1 October 2026"
Rishi Sunak's Crackdown on Vaping Continues
As we have already documented in a previous blog, Rishi Sunak announced his plans for the crackdown on vaping that would be happening the UK in an effort to bring down the youth vaping numbers. A ban on disposable vapes was the stand out of this announcement, with speculation starting to come to light that this will be in April 2025, however no official date for when this will be happening has been confirmed.
When this was initially announced, Rishi Sunak highlighted the fact that he and his Government would be introducing further regulations to the vaping industry in an effort to making vaping less accessible to children by restricting vape flavours, as well as introducing a taxation on vaping products, which the latter has now come to light and will be coming into effect within the next 18 months.
How Much Will Vaping Cost Me With The New Vape Tax?
With the announcement of a vape tax coming, the above may be a question that you're asking yourself, so we want to break down just exactly how much vaping could cost you once these changes come into effect. We've taken some of the best UK vape juice brands to compare their prices with ours as referenced below:
Here at LiQuid, we are determined to make vaping as affordable as possible, which is reflected in our prices of our premium quality UK made vape juice which starts at only £1 per 10ml. And even with the new price increases coming in, we will continue to be the cheapest brand of vape juice available in the UK.
How Vaping Will Still Be Cheaper Than Smoking
Despite the prices of vape juice increasing with the new levy tax, vaping will still continue to be considerably cheaper than what the cost of smoking is currently, and even more so once the additional tobacco levy is introduced when the vape tax comes into effect.
In contrast, a 10ml bottle of vape juice should last someone around 3-4 days, depending how frequently they used their vape device. Even if a 10ml bottle only lasted 2-3 days, buying 3 10ml bottles per week will be more than enough to last. And with our Original £1 e-liquid range, 3 10ml bottles will only cost the maximum price of £12 (if 11mg+ nicotine strengths are being used). That's less than 25% of the weekly cost of hand rolling tobacco would cost!
Looking at the current cost of smoking with today's prices, a 50g pouch of hand rolling tobacco costs around £32. Heavy smokers of around 20 a day can easily get through the full 50g pouch within 2-3 days, meaning they will be spending over £60 a week minimum on tobacco. And with the additional £2 extra that is set to be added, that takes the total to nearly £70 a week just on tobacco.
An Incentive To Cut Down Your Nicotine Strength?
With the proposed price increases of the new vaping tax affecting different nicotine strength vape liquids, this could be used as an incentive for people to consider lowering their nicotine strengths down before the price increase comes into effect.
E-Cigarettes are designed to aid people in quitting smoking, and when you first quit smoking and start vaping, you'll want to use a vape juice with the appropriate nicotine strength that correlates to how many cigarettes a day you previously smoked. Then gradually over time, you can begin lowering that nicotine strength in your vape juice as your dependency for nicotine will begin to taper down.
Some people tend to stick to the same nicotine strength vape juice, but with these price increases more affecting high strength nicotine vape juice, this could act as somewhat of an incentive to begin using lower strength vape liquids as this will ultimately be more cost effective in the long run.
How To Prepare for the New Vaping Regulations
As we mentioned at the top of this article, a disposable vape ban is coming to the UK within the next 18 months, so if you are a disposable vape user, you may be wondering how you will still be able to vape once disposables are banned.
We've previously covered this in detail in another blog regarding what will happen when disposable vapes are banned and we explained that switching to a refillable vape kit with Bar Salt vape juice is the most future proof option if you were previously a disposable vape user.
Conclusion
When it comes to the new tax being put onto vape juice, this is not happening until October 2026, which is 18 months away. Meaning you've got plenty of time to prepare yourself to be ahead of this new potential price hike. E-Liquids normally have a shelf life of 2 years from date of production, meaning you can stock up on your favourite vape juices before the price changes come into effect, and ensure you've got plenty in store and they will not spoil in the time it takes you to vape them.
If you're a high nicotine strength vape juice user, you've got plenty of time to start considering and working on lowering your nicotine strength of your vape juice as well, as we discussed above. And if you are successful in lowering down your nicotine strengths, you will then be paying less for your vape juice!
Ultimately though it is important to remember that should the Conservatives lose the next general election, then it is entirely possible that the vape tax will not come into effect at all - it will be up to the next leading party in Government to decide what, if any of the propositions in mr Hunt's budget will be kept, and which will be scrapped - only time will tell!
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