Vape Duty October 2026: What It Does to UK Prices (10,388 Listings Measured)
From 1 October 2026 every vaping liquid sold in the UK carries Vaping Products Duty at a flat £2.20 per 10ml — 22p per millilitre — whether or not it contains nicotine. Because the rate is flat per millilitre, it does not hit every format equally. We measured 10,388 in-stock UK listings and the spread is enormous: a 2ml prefilled pod rises about 11%, a 10ml bottle about 76%, and a 100ml shortfill about 221%.
Almost every explainer published so far repeats the rate. Very few work out what it does to the shelf. This page does the second part, from measured prices rather than examples.
For adults 18+ only.
What the duty actually is
Straight from HMRC's own briefing, confirmed on 17 August 2026:
- Rate: a single flat £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid — 22p per ml. A 2ml pod is liable to 44p; a 10ml refill bottle to £2.20.
- Scope: all substances intended for vaping, whether the liquid contains nicotine or not. Nicotine-free shortfills are in scope. So are liquids mixed at home from PG, VG and flavourings.
- Starts: 1 October 2026. From that date duty is payable and a vaping duty stamp must be attached to each individual retail pack.
- VAT still applies on top, as now.
- Then 1 April 2027: every vaping product outside duty suspension must carry a stamp, whenever it was made. Selling unstamped stock becomes an offence carrying large fines and, in serious cases, prison.
- Retailers do not need HMRC approval to sell. Approval is for manufacturers, importers and warehousekeepers. The duty is paid before stock reaches a shop.
The stamp itself is a secure label, 18mm by 42mm, sealing the pack so it cannot be opened without damaging the stamp. Stamps carrying the digital feature became available from 1 September 2026; transitional stamps without it can be bought until 30 November 2026 and must not be applied from 1 January 2027.
How we measured the price impact
We scraped the public product feeds of ten UK vape retailers on 3 August 2026 — 31,175 listings in total. From those we kept every listing that was in stock, had a price, stated a liquid volume in its title, and was a liquid-bearing product rather than hardware. Coils, batteries and chargers were excluded. That left 10,388 listings.
We then grouped by bottle size, took the median price in each group (median across 10 UK vape retailers, 3 August 2026 snapshot), applied 22p per ml of duty, added VAT to the duty at the standard rate, and compared. Every figure below is a market median, not our own pricing.
Three caveats we would want stated if someone quoted us. The 30ml and 200ml groups are small samples (39 and 63 listings) so treat them as indicative. We assume duty and the VAT on it are passed through in full — in practice some retailers will absorb part of it, at least at first. And prices move, so this is a dated snapshot rather than a forecast.
The result
| Format | Listings | Median now | Duty | Duty + VAT | Median after | Rise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2ml prefilled pod | 255 | £4.99 | £0.44 | £0.53 | £5.52 | +11% |
| 10ml bottle | 7,463 | £3.49 | £2.20 | £2.64 | £6.13 | +76% |
| 30ml | 39 | £7.99 | £6.60 | £7.92 | £15.91 | +99% |
| 50ml shortfill | 440 | £9.99 | £11.00 | £13.20 | £23.19 | +132% |
| 100ml shortfill | 1,961 | £11.95 | £22.00 | £26.40 | £38.35 | +221% |
| 200ml shortfill | 63 | £19.99 | £44.00 | £52.80 | £72.79 | +264% |
On a 100ml shortfill the duty and its VAT come to more than twice the current price of the bottle. The tax becomes the largest single component of what you pay.
The part nobody is saying: the gap closes
The interesting number is not the percentage. It is cost per millilitre, because that is what actually decides which format is the sensible way to buy.
| Format | Per ml now | Per ml from 1 Oct |
|---|---|---|
| 200ml shortfill | £0.10 | £0.36 |
| 100ml shortfill | £0.12 | £0.38 |
| 50ml shortfill | £0.20 | £0.46 |
| 30ml | £0.27 | £0.53 |
| 10ml bottle | £0.35 | £0.61 |
| 2ml prefilled pod | £2.50 | £2.76 |
Big bottles stay the cheapest way to buy liquid. That does not change. What changes is by how much.
Today the cheapest format per millilitre is 24.9 times cheaper than the dearest. From 1 October that gap falls to 7.6 times.
That is the real story of this duty, and it runs against the intuition most people have. A flat per-millilitre charge is regressive across formats: it is proportionally brutal on the people who buy in bulk to save money, and barely noticeable to the people buying prefilled pods, who are already paying the most per millilitre. The buyer who did the frugal thing gets the biggest percentage rise.
It also means the saving from refilling shrinks by roughly two-thirds. Refilling is still cheaper. It stops being cheaper by an order of magnitude.
What this means for shortfills specifically
Shortfills — large nicotine-free bottles topped up with a nicotine shot — exist because they were the cheap route. Two things happen to them.
First, being nicotine-free is not a way out. The duty applies to all liquid intended for vaping regardless of nicotine, so a nicotine-free shortfill pays the same 22p per ml as anything else.
Second, and less widely reported: mixing your own liquid from non-duty-paid ingredients becomes illegal from 1 October 2026, including for personal use. Mixing PG, VG and flavourings at home to make vaping liquid will require HMRC approval of the premises. What stays legal is combining liquids on which duty has already been paid — HMRC gives the exact example of a duty-paid shortfill plus a duty-paid nicotine shot. So the shortfill-plus-shot routine survives; buying bulk base ingredients to mix from scratch does not.
What we do not know yet
HMRC has said there will be a personal allowance for bringing vaping products into the UK without paying duty, and that it will publish the amount before 1 October 2026. At the time of writing that figure has not been published. Anyone quoting a specific allowance right now is guessing, and we would rather leave the gap visible.
Practical read
- If you use prefilled pods, this barely touches you. Around 11% on the median pod. You are already at the expensive end per millilitre and the duty does not move you much.
- If you refill from 10ml bottles, expect roughly a two-thirds to three-quarters rise on the liquid itself. Hardware is unaffected — the duty is on liquid only.
- If you buy 100ml shortfills, this is the format the duty is hardest on in percentage terms, even though it stays the cheapest per millilitre.
- Stock bought before 1 October does not get cheaper afterwards, but from 1 April 2027 unstamped stock cannot legally be sold, so retailers will be clearing pre-duty stock through the winter rather than holding it.
- Check for the stamp from 2027. A vaping product with no duty stamp after 1 April 2027 is not legitimate stock, and that is a much simpler test for buyers than any of the previous illegal-vape checks.
If the duty pushes you to reconsider format, the two ends of that decision are prefilled pods and refill bottles. Our prefilled pod ranges include Lost Mary NERA 30K refill pods, Hayati Pro Ultra 25K pods and RandM Tornado Ultra 32K refill pods; the bottle side is Elux Legend nic salts in 10ml. We do not currently stock shortfills, so we have no interest in which way that decision goes.
Common questions
How much is the UK vape tax?
£2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid, which is 22p per millilitre, from 1 October 2026. It is a single flat rate — there are no strength bands. VAT is charged on top.
Does the vape duty apply to nicotine-free e-liquid?
Yes. HMRC states products are liable whether the liquid contains nicotine or not. Nicotine-free shortfills are in scope.
How much will a 100ml shortfill cost after the vape tax?
The duty on 100ml is £22.00, and £26.40 once VAT on the duty is added. Against a median UK price of £11.95 in our August 2026 snapshot, that points to roughly £38 — an increase of about 221%.
How much duty is on a disposable or prefilled pod?
A 2ml pod is liable to 44p in duty, 53p with VAT on it. On a median prefilled pod that is an increase of around 11%.
Will vaping still be cheaper than refilling after the duty?
Refilling stays cheaper per millilitre — about £0.38 per ml for a 100ml shortfill against about £2.76 for a prefilled pod on these medians. The advantage narrows from roughly 25 times to roughly 8 times.
Can I still mix my own e-liquid at home?
Only from liquids on which duty has already been paid — for example a duty-paid shortfill plus a duty-paid nicotine shot. Mixing vaping liquid from non-duty-paid base ingredients becomes an offence from 1 October 2026, even if it is not for sale.
What is a vaping duty stamp?
A secure label, 18mm by 42mm, applied to the outermost retail packaging so the pack cannot be opened without damaging it. From 1 April 2027 every vaping product outside duty suspension must carry one, and selling unstamped stock is an offence.
Sources and related reading
- HMRC, Prepare for Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme — gov.uk, checked 17 August 2026.
- Vaping Products Duty: the October 2026 guide
- Vaping duty stamps: what buyers need to check
- UK vape price index: what vaping actually costs
- What vaping costs per month in the UK
- How to spot an illegal vape
Price impact calculated from 10,388 in-stock, priced, volume-stated UK listings drawn from 31,175 listings across ten UK retailers, 3 August 2026 snapshot. Duty and scheme details from HMRC guidance checked 17 August 2026. Medians are market-wide and are not Vape7Store pricing.