Health & Lifestyle

Jeremy Hunt announces new tax on vapes in clampdown that could make e-cigs up to £3 more expensive – but critics ‘slam scientifically and economically illiterate’ levy

Vapes will be slapped with harsh new taxes, Jeremy Hunt announced today.

Under the Chancellor’s plan to discourage non-smokers from getting addicted to cheap nicotine-laden gadgets, the price of the strongest e-cigarette fluid will rise by up to £3.

Ministers insist the Treasury’s levies are needed to tackle the child vaping epidemic but critics say they are ‘scientifically and economically illiterate’.

Non-nicotine vaping fluid will be slapped with a £1 per 10ml tax, with that being the average size most e-liquids are sold in. 

Liquid with a nicotine content less than one cigarette, about 11mg, will be hit by a £2 per 10ml rate.

Those stronger than a cigarette will be taxed at £3 per 10ml.

The Treasury estimates the levies will raise £445million annually by 2028/29, which it says can then be reinvested into public services like the NHS. 

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the new levies, that vary according to nicotine content, as part of today's Budget

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the new levies, that vary according to nicotine content, as part of today’s Budget

Mr Hunt’s vape tax won’t take effect immediately, with the levy only expected to be brought in 2026, and only after a 12-week consultation to be held in the near future. 

This would put implementing the measure — which had been rumoured for months before today’s confirmation — under the purview of the next Government. 

Reacting to the announcement, Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs thinktank called it a ‘deeply cynical cash grab’. 

‘Forget sin taxes, this is a saint tax,’ he said. 

‘Vapers did what the government wanted and gave up smoking. They are now being punished for it.

‘This is scientifically and economically illiterate. 

‘Combined with the ban on disposable vapes, it seems the government is intent on keeping people smoking. 

‘Not only will the tax close the price gap between vapes and cigarettes, it will send a message to the public that the health risks are similar. 

‘Since most people in Britain already wrongly believe that vaping is at least as dangerous as smoking, the Government’s reckless greed will cost lives. 

‘As a former health minister, Mr Hunt should be ashamed.’

Mr Snowden was referencing a recent study which showed 60 per cent of smokers think vapes are more harmful than cigarettes.

Maxwell Marlow, director of research at fellow thinktank The Adam Smith Institute, urged the Government to reconsider the plans.

‘It is concerning that the government is planning to punish former smokers with their proposed short-sighted vaping tax,’ he said. 

‘This tax will undermine progress towards their own Smoke Free 2030 target, by driving smokers further away from more regulated forms of quitting, and potentially towards the black market of toxic, untaxed vapes.’

Mr Hunt also announced he was raising the price of cigarettes as well from 2026 to ensure vaping isn’t more expensive than smoking, in an attempt to keep it as an option for smokers wanting to use them to quit.  

Anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health’s welcomed the announcement.

Chief executive, Deborah Arnott, said: ‘The additional increase in tobacco taxes is welcome, as keeping vaping cheaper than smoking is vital to encourage smokers trying to quit to switch to vapes which are the most effective stop smoking aid available over the counter,’ she said. 

However, she urged any profits made for the tax to be dedicated to smoking cessation services to help people to quit.  

‘It’s smokers and those trying to quit and stay quit who will be paying these extra taxes,’ she said. 

‘These new taxes should be used to plug the cuts in prevention measures and help the government achieve its smokefree 2030 ambition.’

Cllr Kaya Comer Schwartz, vice-chair of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board said the measures it will stop vapes being available at ‘pocket money’ prices. 

‘It is good that the Government are taking decisive action to make vaping products less affordable to minors,’ she said. 

‘This will help to tackle the pocket money prices vapes are currently available for, deterring children from using them and helping the clampdown on illicit products.’

Charity Cancer Research UK also welcomed the announcement. 

Dr Ian Walker, the charity’s executive director of policy, said: ‘We welcome the increase in tobacco duty announced in today’s budget as an effective measure to combat smoking, the biggest cause of cancer in the UK. 

‘This, along with the new vaping duty, will maintain the important price difference between cigarettes and vapes, encouraging people who smoke to quit and discouraging young people and those who have never smoked from taking up vaping.’

Traditional smoking, which involves the burning of tobacco, has long been established as causing a host of health problems. 

These include respiratory issues as well as increased risk of heart attack and strokes and developing multiple cancers.

While evidence surrounding the long-term health impacts of vaping are still unclear, almost all experts agree it is safer than traditional smoking.  

E-cigs allow people to inhale nicotine in a vapour — which is produced by heating a liquid.

Unlike traditional cigarettes, they do not contain tobacco, nor do they produce tar or carbon — two of the most dangerous elements.

Medics have expressed fear there could be a wave of lung disease, dental issues and even cancer in the coming decades in people who took up vaping at a young age.

Vapes are used by many ex-smokers as a smoking cessation tool, as they get can get their nicotine fix without the health impacts of traditional smoking. 

One in 10 Estonian's now vape regularly each month, cementing its position as the e-cigarette capital of the world, fresh data revealed this week. Published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ¿ a forum of 37 countries with market-based economies founded in 1961 ¿ it also found just four countries rank higher than the UK

One in 10 Estonian’s now vape regularly each month, cementing its position as the e-cigarette capital of the world, fresh data revealed this week. Published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) — a forum of 37 countries with market-based economies founded in 1961 — it also found just four countries rank higher than the UK

Every year around 76,000 people in the UK die from smoking related illnesses. 

The Government itself estimates that smoking costs the economy £17billion a year through lost productivity and knock-on effects to the NHS.

Other anti-vaping measures, designed to curb the rise of the habit in children, proposed by Government to reduce vaping in children have been welcomed by health experts.

These include a ban on disposable vapes – the weapon of choice for teenager vapers.

E-cigs are also set to be limited to a handful of flavours, sold in plain, tobacco-style packaging and displayed out of sight of kids under PM Rishi Sunak‘s ambitious plans.

It will mean the end of bubblegum ‘clouds’ and predatory packaging designed to make vapes look like highlighter pens. 

New ‘on the spot’ fines will be brought in for shops illegally selling vapes to children.

Shocking stats show a quarter of today’s children have tried puffing on the nicotine-laden gadgets that litter shops across the country.

What’s worse, a tenth are now regular users, sparking fears of a future health crisis given the mystery surrounding the long-term safety of e-cigarettes.


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