UK vape tax takes effect to curb youth use, raising prices by £2.20 per 10ml

Starting Thursday, a packet of vape liquid will cost more. The UK government has introduced a new tax on vaping products—£2.20 for every 10 millilitres of e-liquid, regardless of nicotine content. The stated purpose is straightforward: make vaping expensive enough that it loses its appeal to children and young people, who have taken up the habit in growing numbers despite health warnings.

The tax arrives as evidence accumulates about vaping's effects on young bodies. Recent research has linked it to wheezing and coughing, dental problems, sleep disruption, mental health issues, and eye symptoms in children and adolescents. The NHS is unambiguous: children and non-smokers should not vape at all. Experts acknowledge that vaping carries less risk than smoking, but the long-term consequences remain unclear—a gap in knowledge that troubles public health officials watching youth adoption rates climb.

The government has built in a grace period. Retailers have six months to sell existing stock at pre-duty prices, which means the sticker shock won't hit immediately. Simultaneously, tobacco taxes rose by £2.20 per 100 cigarettes or 50 grams, a move designed to preserve the financial incentive for smokers to switch to vaping—a recognition that for adults trying to quit cigarettes, affordability matters. The Treasury is attempting a delicate balance: discourage youth vaping while not making legal vaping so expensive that it pushes adult smokers back toward cigarettes.

The vaping industry has fought the tax hard, arguing that affordable products serve a genuine public health purpose. John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, called it "nothing short of a tax on public health," pointing out that vapes have helped millions of adults reduce or stop smoking. Jordan Apap, a sales assistant at a specialist vape shop in Berkshire, was blunter about the consequences: legitimate retailers who provide informed advice and proper service face "a real and genuine risk" of closure within a year or two, squeezed between the new tax burden and convenience stores that sell vapes without expertise or accountability.

When the BBC spoke to vapers in Reading, the responses suggested the tax's actual effect remains uncertain. Mackenzie Bird, 19, who has vaped regularly for three years, said the duty wouldn't stop her—she'd simply stock up before prices rose. But Cara Lewis-Rimes and Dylan Killner saw it differently. Cara thought the cost of living squeeze would force people to cut down. Dylan said he might quit altogether, acknowledging that "the health factor around it as well is not great." Three people, three different calculations of what higher prices mean.

Beyond the tax itself, the government is moving on multiple fronts. HMRC is introducing a traceable stamp system for all vaping products sold in the UK, effective from April, designed to track items through the supply chain and combat the illicit trade that has become a visible problem on British high streets. Planning law changes in England now require new vape shops to seek council permission before opening, giving local authorities a tool to limit their proliferation. Health Minister Karin Smyth framed these measures as part of a broader effort to reduce both the affordability and the availability of vapes to young people.

The Treasury's Financial Secretary, James Murray, said the government was "backing all those retailers who play by the rules"—a statement that acknowledges the tension at the heart of this policy. Legitimate businesses that operate transparently and provide proper service face genuine financial pressure. Illegal traders, who operate without oversight and often target young customers, may simply absorb the tax or pass it on while continuing to operate outside the system. The real test of whether this policy works will not be whether vape prices rise—they will—but whether young people actually buy fewer of them, or whether they simply buy from sources the government cannot see.