The UK vaping duty stamp, from the carton side.
Vaping Products Duty started on 1 October 2026 at £2.20 per 10 ml, and every retail unit released for the UK market now needs a stamp on its outer packaging. Most guides explain the law. This one explains what it changes on the pack, in the artwork, and on the pallet — because that is where a launch actually slips.
The rate
One rate, every liquid, including 0 mg
Vaping Products Duty is a flat excise duty of £2.20 per 10 ml of vaping liquid. It does not vary with nicotine strength, and nicotine-free liquid pays exactly the same as a 20 mg pod. HMRC's guidance names bottles, cartridges and pods explicitly, and also covers the ingredients on their own — propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and flavourings — so there is no version of the product that sits outside it.
The duty is per millilitre, so the fill volume you choose is the per-unit duty you pay. A pod at the UK 2 ml ceiling carries 44p of duty. A 10 ml refill bottle carries £2.20. The same e-liquid, ten times the duty.
- Rate
- £2.20 per 10 ml, flat
- Applies to
- All vaping liquid, with or without nicotine
- In force from
- 1 October 2026
- Duty point
- When the product is released for UK consumption
- Paid by
- HMRC-approved manufacturer, importer or warehousekeeper
- Stamp required
- On the outermost retail packaging, every unit
On a 5,000-piece order of 2 ml pods — the usual minimum on a pod programme — that is 10,000 ml of liquid and £2,200 of duty before anything is shipped. That number belongs in the landed-cost sheet next to freight, not discovered at the border.
Approvals
Who needs HMRC approval, and who does not
This is the part overseas suppliers get wrong first, because it looks like the importer's problem and is not. Approvals opened on 1 April 2026 and HMRC warns they can take more than 45 working days, so the clock is not something a launch schedule can absorb late.
| Who you are | What you need | Why it matters to the order |
|---|---|---|
| UK manufacturer | VPD approval and VDS Scheme approval | Cannot legally manufacture from 1 Oct 2026 without both |
| Overseas manufacturer | Appoint a UK representative who applies for the VDS Scheme on your behalf | The route a Shenzhen factory uses to supply a stamped UK product |
| UK representative of an overseas manufacturer | VDS Scheme approval; liable for the duty | Must be in place before the first stamped pallet |
| Importer | Liable for the duty; register if acting as UK representative | The duty follows the release, not the invoice |
| Warehousekeeper holding duty suspension | Approval, or amend an existing authorisation to cover VPD | Duty-suspended stock is the one legitimate way to defer the charge |
| Wholesaler or retailer, duty-paid stock only | No approval needed | But you must be able to show why any unstamped stock is legitimate |
Non-compliance is not a fine-only matter. HMRC states that civil or criminal penalties apply and that the most serious cases can carry custodial sentences.
The stamp
A 42 × 18 mm seal that changes the pack
The stamp is not a label that goes anywhere convenient. HMRC specifies a rectangle 42 mm long and 18 mm wide, fixed to the outermost retail packaging, and applied so the pack cannot be opened without damaging either the packaging or the stamp. It cannot be reused once affixed.
In practice that rules out a sticker on a curved face, a sleeve that slides off, and any closing method where the consumer can reach the product without breaking the seal. The carton dieline has to be designed around the stamp from the start, not adjusted after artwork approval.
- Shape and size
- Rectangular, 42 mm × 18 mm
- Position
- Outermost retail packaging, sealing the opening
- Reusable
- No — a damaged pack cannot be re-stamped
- Transitional stamp
- Security features, no digital element
- Digital stamp
- Adds a scannable code for authentication and tracing
- Supplier
- Cartor Security Printers Limited, appointed by HMRC
- Supplied to
- Approved individuals, manufacturers and importers only
Timeline
The dates that decide a launch window
Eight dates govern a UK pod launch. Two of them are already past, which is why an order placed today is a stamped order rather than a planned one.
| Date | What happens | What it means for a pod order |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 2026 | VPD and VDS Scheme registrations opened | Already past; approvals can exceed 45 working days |
| 1 Sep 2026 | Digital stamps available to approved businesses | Digital can be affixed now, ahead of the deadline |
| 1 Oct 2026 | Duty live; all liable units released must be stamped | Already past; an import arriving unstamped is a problem at the border |
| 30 Nov 2026 | Last date to purchase transitional stamps | A hard cut-off on the non-digital route |
| 31 Dec 2026 | Last date transitional stamps may be affixed | Product stamped after this needs the digital version |
| 1 Jan 2027 | Digital stamps only, for new product | Serialisation data has to reach the pack-out record |
| 31 Mar 2027 | Grace period ends for stock already in retail | Unstamped stock can be sold to this date, not beyond |
| 1 Apr 2027 | Every UK vaping product outside duty suspension must be stamped | Unstamped product may be seized |
Factory side
Where the factory sits in all of this
A question we are asked on almost every UK enquiry: can the stamping be handled before the goods leave, or does it happen after arrival? It has to be settled before, and the reason is in the wording HMRC uses.
HMRC's guidance is that vaping products manufactured in or imported into the UK from 1 October 2026 need a duty stamp on the retail packaging. An imported pallet therefore has to arrive already stamped, which means stamp supply, the UK representative's approval and the factory's pack-out all have to line up before the first carton is closed — not after the container lands.
That is a scheduling fact more than a legal one, and it is where lead times go wrong: approval time sits at the front of the chain, stamp supply in the middle, and the factory run at the end. Run those three in parallel and a UK launch is ordinary. Run them in sequence and the approval alone can consume two months.
Four things we settle with a buyer before a UK run is scheduled
- Which entity holds the VDS approval and who orders the stamps
- Whether the run uses transitional or digital stamps, which fixes the ship date
- A dieline with a flat, sealable panel that takes a 42 × 18 mm stamp
- Whether the digital stamp's code has to be reconciled against our pack-out records
We manufacture the pod. We do not hold a UK approval and we do not give tax advice. What we can do is make the physical product and its documentation fit the scheme your representative registers for.
Questions
Duty stamp questions buyers ask first
Yes, pro rata. The rate is £2.20 per 10 ml, which is 22p per millilitre, so a pod filled to the UK 2 ml ceiling carries 44p and a 10 ml refill bottle carries £2.20. Because the duty follows volume rather than nicotine, a weaker or nicotine-free pod pays exactly the same as a 20 mg one.
Yes. HMRC states the duty applies to vaping liquid whether or not it contains nicotine, and the guidance extends to propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and flavourings intended for vaping. A 0 mg SKU is not a way around the charge, and it still needs a stamp.
Not directly. HMRC requires an overseas manufacturer to appoint a UK representative who applies for the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme on its behalf, and an importer acting in that role must register and becomes liable for the duty. Stamps are only supplied to approved individuals, manufacturers and importers, so the approval chain is a precondition for buying them at all.
Stock produced or imported before 1 October 2026 can be sold through to 31 March 2027 without a stamp. You should hold evidence of when it was produced or imported, because that is what you will be asked for. From 1 April 2027 unstamped product outside duty suspension may be seized, so anything left in the channel needs to be sold, returned or otherwise lawfully dealt with before then.
No, they are separate regimes run by separate bodies. MHRA notification under TRPR is a medicines-style product notification that must be completed before a product goes on sale. Vaping Products Duty and the duty stamps are HMRC excise matters. A product can be fully notified and still be illegal to sell unstamped, and the reverse is equally true.
The approved manufacturer, importer or warehousekeeper accounts for the duty at the duty point. Whether it is passed down the chain is a commercial decision, not a regulatory one — HMRC says so explicitly. The mechanism that defers rather than avoids it is duty suspension in an authorised customs or excise warehouse, which is why some buyers route stock that way.
Official sources behind this page
- HMRC / GOV.UK: New Vaping Products Duty comes into effect, 1 October 2026
- GOV.UK: Handling wholesale or retail vaping products in the UK — stamp specification and retailer duties
- GOV.UK: Key messages for audience groups — the full date table
- HMRC: Vaping Products Duty and Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme, detailed information
Every regulatory claim on this page traces to one of these published sources. Rules change; the citations stay checkable. Reviewed November 2026. This page is guidance, not tax or legal advice.
The mistake that costs a launch
Treating approval as something to start once the product is ready. HMRC warns that an application can take more than 45 working days, and no stamp can be ordered until the approval is in place. On a tight schedule that single sequencing error is worth more delay than the manufacturing run itself.
Keep reading
Continue from here
UK rules for prefilled pods
TRPR 2016 limits, the single-use ban, and where the duty fits.
EU excise rates by country
The per-millilitre cost map across Europe, for comparison.
Next step
Planning a stamped UK launch?
Send the pod family, the fill volume and the date you want stock in the UK. We will come back with the per-unit duty, a dieline that takes the stamp, and a production slot that can meet your representative's approval date.
- Duty on 2 ml
- 44p per pod
- Duty on a 5,000 pc run
- £2,200
- Stamp panel needed
- 42 × 18 mm, sealed