Vape duty by bottle size: the per ml chart, VAT and duty stamps

• The duty is 22p for every millilitre of liquid. That is £2.20 per 10ml, charged on volume alone, with or without nicotine.
• VAT is charged on top of the duty. Add 20% VAT and the duty works out at £2.64 per 10ml, or about 26p per ml.
• Count the millilitres to know the duty. A 10ml bottle carries £2.20 of duty and a 100ml shortfill £22.00, before VAT.
• Look for the duty stamp. New stock carries a yellow or red tamper-evident stamp on its outer retail packaging. Older unstamped stock can still be sold for six months.
• Hardware carries no vape duty. Refillable kits, coils, batteries and empty pods carry none; on a prefilled kit only the liquid in the pod is taxed.

How the duty is worked out

Vaping Products Duty started on 1 October 2026. It is an excise duty administered by HMRC and paid by approved manufacturers, importers and warehousekeepers, and it is charged on the liquid inside vaping products. It is a single flat rate of £2.20 per 10ml. There are no bands for flavour, brand or bottle type.

Because the rate is set per 10ml, HMRC works it out per millilitre. Its internal manual gives the method: £2.20 divided by 10 is 22p per ml, so a device holding 2ml of liquid carries 44p of duty. Any other size follows the same sum: count the millilitres and multiply by 22p. HMRC also says the result is rounded down to the nearest penny.

The duty applies whether or not the liquid contains nicotine. HMRC’s guidance says it covers liquid in bottles, cartridges and pods, and also substances intended for vaping such as propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and flavourings. So a 0mg shortfill and a nicotine salt are charged at exactly the same rate per ml, and base liquids or flavourings sold for vaping, such as PG and VG for DIY mixing, are dutiable too.

For the bigger picture of why the duty was introduced and how it changes prices across the market, read our main guide: how much will vape prices go up with the new vape tax. This page is the quick-reference chart that goes with it.

The duty chart for every bottle size

This table shows the duty, and the duty with VAT added, for the sizes you will actually see on the shelf. It is the tax element only, not a selling price. What a product costs also depends on the manufacturer, the supplier and the retailer, and HMRC says it is a commercial decision whether the duty cost is passed on.

The duty plus VAT column is rounded to the nearest penny. Two things stand out. The rate per ml never changes, so a pod vaper and a shortfill vaper pay exactly the same duty per millilitre. And the total simply grows with the volume, so the products holding the most liquid carry the most duty in a single purchase.

Why VAT goes on top of the duty

A common mix-up is the £2.20. That is the Vaping Products Duty, not VAT. VAT at 20% still applies exactly as before: in HMRC’s words, VAT continues to apply to vaping products.

The reason the two stack up is simple. When a manufacturer or importer pays the duty and passes it through, it becomes part of the product’s price before VAT. VAT is then charged on that higher price. So on a 10ml bottle, £2.20 of duty also attracts 44p of VAT, and if the duty is passed on in full the shelf price goes up by £2.64.

As the example shows, on a 10ml bottle priced at £1.00 before tax, the duty and VAT together come to £2.84 of a £3.84 total. This is why you will see two different figures quoted, £2.20 and £2.64. As a shopper, the duty plus VAT figure is the one to use, because VAT is part of every price you pay.

What it means for bottles, pods and shortfills

10ml bottles and nic salts. A standard 10ml bottle, such as Cherry Cola 10ml nic salt by Bar Juice 5000, carries £2.20 of duty, or £2.64 with VAT. A typical pod-kit vaper uses about 10ml to 15ml a week, which puts the tax at £2.64 to £3.96 a week at that level of use. Multipacks follow the same sum: a ten-bottle pack like Top Salt by Mr Salt 10ml nic salt pack of 10 holds 100ml in total. Browse nic salts by flavour and strength.

Prefilled pods. UK law caps a nicotine pod at 2ml, so a full 2ml prefilled pod carries 44p of duty, or 53p with VAT. The duty ignores puff ratings completely; a kit rated at thousands of puffs is taxed only on the liquid in its box. Check the pack size too. Some prefilled packs include a 10ml bottle alongside the pod, and the duty is worked out on the total millilitres inside, which is the 12ml row in the chart.

Shortfills and nic shots. A 100ml bottle such as Kingston Zingberry 100ml 50/50 carries £22.00 of duty, or £26.40 with VAT. Each 10ml nic shot you add is another 10ml of taxed liquid, which is why the 60ml and 120ml rows in the chart include the shots. Larger packs work the same way. Kingston Zingberry 200ml is a 160ml shortfill; choose 3mg and four 10ml nic shots come with it, which makes up the 200ml in the name and matches the 200ml row in the chart.

If you are deciding between big bottles and 10ml bottles, our shortfill vs 10ml e-liquid guide compares the two formats, and how long 100ml of e-liquid lasts helps you plan how much you need.

What carries no duty

The duty is on vaping liquid only. Hardware carries no Vaping Products Duty at all, before or after 1 October 2026. That covers:

• Refillable pod kits and mods, such as the Vaporesso Xros 4 Mini
• Replacement coils and empty refillable pods
• Tanks, batteries, chargers and accessories

A prefilled pod kit is a slightly different case, because the kit arrives with liquid already in its pod. The duty is charged on that liquid, not on the battery. Normal VAT applies to everything, liquid or not.

Vaping duty stamps: what to look for

Alongside the duty, HMRC has launched the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme. HMRC says the stamps are being introduced to help identify legitimate products and support action against illicit ones. Here is what its guidance says about them:

1. 1
   Check the colour and shape. Duty stamps are yellow or red, tamper-evident and rectangular, 42mm long and 18mm wide.
2. 2
   Check where it sits. The stamp goes on the outermost retail packaging, placed so the box cannot be opened without damaging the packaging or the stamp. A stamp cannot be reused once it has been fixed to a product.
3. 3
   Expect two versions for a while. Transitional stamps without digital features can be applied until 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027, new products must carry digital stamps, which include a scannable code.
4. 4
   Scanning is coming later. HMRC says that in due course retailers and customers will be able to scan digital stamps to check a product is genuine.

You can read the official retail rules in HMRC’s guide to handling wholesale or retail vaping products in the UK.

Stamped and unstamped stock side by side

Products made in, or imported into, the UK from 1 October 2026 must carry a duty stamp. Stock that was produced or imported before that date has no stamp, and HMRC allows shops to keep selling it during a six-month grace period: pre-duty stock is on sale until 31 March 2027, so some shelf prices you see now are for stock that never paid the duty.

So for the next few months you may see the same liquid in two versions, one with a stamp and one without. The liquid inside is the same; only the tax treatment differs. Once the grace period ends, HMRC says consumers should only buy duty-stamped vaping products, and anyone who suspects a product is illicit can report it to HMRC.

Our guide to e-liquid shelf life and storage explains how long sealed and opened bottles last.

Travelling with vape liquid

The duty also changed the rules for bringing liquid home from abroad. HMRC says travellers arriving in Great Britain can bring up to 50ml of vaping liquid for personal use without paying duty and tax. Anything above that must be declared, and duty is then paid on the full quantity, not just the extra. Northern Ireland has its own rules, set out by HMRC.

For what you can take on board in the first place, including hand luggage and battery rules, see can you vape on a plane. Our overview of UK vape laws and regulations covers bottle sizes, nicotine limits and the disposable ban that started on 1 June 2025.

Shop by the millilitre

Free UK delivery over £15, 1.8 reward points on every £1 and 20,000+ five-star reviews. New here? Register at checkout for 10% off your first order.

Quick answers