Vaping liquid will now be taxed by an additional £2.20 per 10ml, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced today. This new tax is projected to raise £40 billion for the NHS as part of Labour’s new budget.
The tax will effectively double or triple the cost of vaping liquid, which starts at about £1 per 10ml. Today’s announcement comes one week after the plan the government announced last week to ban all sale of disposable vapes within England. Together, the two pieces of legislation will significantly increase barriers to usage of both disposable and reusable vapes.
We want to discourage non-smokers & young people from taking up vaping.
— HM Treasury (@hmtreasury) October 30, 2024
From 1 Oct 2026, 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. pic.twitter.com/yxzOHYlA1E
The disposable vape ban will take effect this coming June 2025, while the vaping liquid tax will not roll out until October 2026.
Proponents of last week’s ban hope that legislation targeting disposables will reduce vaping among minors. Children and teens are more likely to use disposable vapes, which are cheap, easily accessible, and easy to use.
Disposable vape designs, packaging, and marketing are also targeted at teen or pre-teen audiences. Brightly colored packaging and candy-like flavors may be designed to appeal to even younger children.
Growing public pressure has forced vaping companies to begin taking responsibility for the harm caused. Earlier this year, the e-cigarette company Juul agreed to pay over $300 million to settle a lawsuit alleging their products were unlawfully marketed to minors. Payouts to the claimants were dispersed earlier this month.
Minister Andrew Gwynne said: “It’s deeply worrying that a quarter of 11-15-year-olds used a vape last year and we know disposables are the product of choice for the majority of kids vaping today.”
However, the NHS data referenced by Gwynne also shows that, despite concerningly high rates overall, rates of year 7-11 students who vape remain lower in London relative to other parts of the country.
NHS data surveying pupils in years 7-11 (generally aged 11-15) in 2023 shows that in London, only 4%, or 1 in 25 are current e-cigarette users. In contrast, in North East England, 12%, or 1 in 8 are current e-cigarette users.
The data also reveals lower drinking and drug usage among Londoners in the age range when compared to the rest of England.