UK Vape Tax: What It Means for Nic Salt and Pod Prices

Under current UK TPD rules, 2ml is the legal maximum for any pod or tank. That makes 44p the ceiling for duty on a single pod, no matter what puff count is printed on the box.

Why Nic Salt and Pod Prices Have Not All Moved Yet

A lot of what is on sale today was brought into the UK before the duty existed.

GOV.UK lets retailers keep selling unstamped stock that was produced or imported before 1 October 2026, right up to 31 March 2027. Retailers do not need HMRC approval to do that, but they do have to keep evidence of when the stock entered the country and manage it so the unstamped lines clear before the deadline.

The arithmetic gives it away. Duty alone on 100ml of liquid is £22. Anything holding 100ml and priced under that figure has to be pre-duty stock, sold legally under the grace period.

Here is how that looks across our nicotine salts and 100ml shortfill e-liquids today:

None of that is a discount on duty-paid liquid. It is older stock moving through a finite window.

What Vape Duty Stamps Mean When You Buy a Vape

A duty stamp on the packaging is proof that the duty on the liquid inside has been accounted for.

GOV.UK describes vaping duty stamps as secure physical stamps with multiple security features, fixed to the outermost retail packaging so that the stamp seals the pack. Digital versions carry a scannable code used for authentication and supply chain tracing. A stamp cannot be reused once affixed.

Until the final deadline, an unstamped pack is not a warning sign on its own, because legitimate pre-October stock is still in circulation. After that date it is. For the wider authenticity checks, we set out how to confirm a product is TPD compliant and listed with the MHRA in a separate guide.

• Since 1 October 2026, newly produced or imported products must be stamped before release onto the UK market.

• Transitional stamps, which carry the security features but no scannable code, were available to purchase until 30 November 2026.

• From 1 January 2027, only digital stamps can be newly affixed to products.

• From 1 April 2027, every vaping product outside duty suspension must carry a valid stamp, and selling unstamped stock is no longer allowed.

Nic Salts vs Prefilled Pods: Which Costs Less Per Millilitre

Refilling wins on cost per millilitre, and the duty does not change that ranking.

Duty falls on both formats at the same 22p per millilitre, so it shifts both prices in the same direction. What separates them is everything other than the liquid. Here is the current per-millilitre maths on our listings:

• A pack of ten ELFLIQ bottles at £19.99 holds 100ml, which is 20p per ml.

• A single Gold Bar 10ml bottle at £2.49 is 24.9p per ml.

• A pack of ten Pod Salt Nexus bottles at £24.99 is 25p per ml.

With a prefilled pod you are also paying for the pod shell, the coil and the packaging. The liquid is capped at 2ml and carries 44p of duty, and the rest is hardware. That is why replacement prefilled pods such as the Lost Mary Nera 30K at £4.99 or the Hayati Pro Ultra Plus 25K at £8.99 work out dearer per millilitre than a bottle.

So pick prefilled pods if sealed convenience and quick flavour switching matter more than cost. Pick a refillable setup if cost per millilitre is the deciding factor. Our prefilled pod kits cover both, and we have written separately on how refillable pods compare with disposable-style pods.

What to Check Before the 31 March 2027 Duty Stamp Deadline

Four practical things worth doing between now and the deadline.

• Work out your cost per millilitre rather than comparing headline prices, since duty is charged on volume and so is your real spend.

• Check pod capacity and nicotine strength: 2ml per pod and 20mg/ml are the current UK legal maximums, and anything above either is not TPD compliant.

• Treat the pre-duty stock in the supply chain as finite. That is a timing point about availability, not a prediction about future prices.

• From 1 April 2027, check the outer packaging for a duty stamp. A missing stamp after that date means the product should not be on sale.

Conclusion

The duty is live, it is charged at 22p per millilitre, and it lands on volume rather than nicotine strength. For most readers, refilling a pod kit with 10ml nic salts is the cheapest route per millilitre, at roughly 20p to 25p per ml on current listings, and we compared Lost Mary nic salt against RandM Tornado nic salts bottle for bottle. Prefilled pods are the alternative worth paying more for when convenience beats cost. Keep the calendar in mind: unstamped pre-duty stock can only be sold until 31 March 2027, and from 1 April 2027 every pack on a UK shelf carries both the duty and the stamp.

Frequently Asked Questions About the UK Vape Tax

How much is the vape tax in the UK?

£2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid, or 22p per millilitre. VAT applies on top, so the full amount added is around £2.64 per 10ml where a supplier passes it on in full. Nicotine strength makes no difference to the rate.

Do nicotine-free e-liquids pay the vape tax?

Yes. GOV.UK states that products are liable whether or not the liquid contains nicotine. A 0mg 100ml shortfill therefore carries the same 22p per millilitre as a 20mg nic salt, which is £22 before VAT.

Why are some nic salts still cheap after the vape tax?

Because stock produced or imported before 1 October 2026 can legally be sold without a duty stamp until 31 March 2027. Those products entered the UK before the duty existed, so they still carry pre-duty pricing. That window closes on 1 April 2027.

What does a vaping duty stamp look like?

GOV.UK describes it as a secure physical stamp with multiple security features, fixed to the outermost retail packaging so that it seals the pack. Digital versions include a scannable code for authentication and supply chain tracing. A stamp cannot be reused once affixed.