The UK government has announced a new tax plan for electronic cigarettes: starting from 2026, a tax of £ 2.2 will be added to every 10 milliliters of e-liquid

The UK government has announced a new tax plan for electronic cigarettes: starting from 2026, a tax of £ 2.2 will be added to every 10 milliliters of e-liquid

The UK budget plans to adjust e-cigarettes and tobacco taxes. Starting from October 2026, a new tax of £ 2.20 will be levied on every 10 milliliters of e-cigarette e-liquid. UKVIA has criticized this move as unfair and is concerned that the new tax will affect 3 million adults who have quit smoking through e-cigarettes.

According to a BBC report on October 31st, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced in her budget report that the cost of electronic cigarettes and tobacco will rise due to a new round of tax increases.

Starting from October 2026, a new tax of £ 2.20 will be levied on every 10 milliliters of e-liquid. At the same time, the tobacco tax for every 100 cigarettes will also increase by the same amount to 'maintain the economic incentive to shift from tobacco to e-cigarettes'.

In the final budget before losing the election, the former Conservative government expressed its intention to introduce an electronic cigarette tax and set up a public consultation to discuss these changes. They stated that the purpose of the tax is to make it more difficult for young people and non-smokers to access electronic cigarettes, while also raising funds for key public services such as the National Health Service (NHS). Previously, the government proposed levying different levels of taxes based on the varying nicotine content in e-liquid, but Reeves chose a uniform tax rate.

John Dunn, the head of the UK Electronic Cigarette Industry Association (UKVIA), called the e-cigarette tax a "ridiculous move" that punishes those who use e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking.

Approximately 3 million adults quit smoking due to e-cigarettes, which has been strongly proven to be the most effective way to quit smoking, saving millions of pounds for the National Health Service (NHS) to treat smoking related illnesses

The new Labour government has announced plans to stop marketing e-cigarette brands that attract children and plans to ban the use of disposable e-cigarettes by June 2025.

In addition, the ministers pledged to continue the plan formulated by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ban the purchase of cigarettes by people born in 2009 or later.