E-Cigarette Direct 2026 Vape Duty Survey

At a glance

We surveyed 2,068 vapers to find out their views about the new UK vape duty and how they think it could affect them.

Almost 90% told us that it would have a major or moderate effect on their finances, while only half said they would still have switched to vaping if the tax had been in place at the time. More than one in five vapers said they would be more likely to buy legal tobacco, illegal vapes or illegal tobacco as a result of the higher prices.

Four in five vapers believe one reason for the duty is to replace lost tobacco revenue, while only 40% agree it’s meant to deter young people from vaping.

• Background
• Survey analysis
  1. The financial impact
  2. Stopping vaping and product choice
  3. Smoking, illegal products and other nicotine products
  4. Would vapers have switched from smoking if the tax had existed previously?
  5. Vapers think the tax is more about money than young people
  6. Stocking up during the sell-through period
  7. Where vapers first heard about the tax
  8. In their own words
• Conclusions
• Full method
• Questionnaire

Headline findings

• Financial impact: 52% expect a major financial impact from the tax, while 37% expect a moderate impact.
• Would they have switched: 28% of vapers who had smoked say they wouldn't have switched from cigarettes to vaping if the tax had already been in place. A further 23% aren't sure..
• Most at risk: those who wouldn't have switched are seven times as likely to say higher prices make them more likely to smoke.
• Why: 80% believe one reason for the tax is to replace lost tobacco taxes. Only 40% believe the government's stated reason of discouraging young people from vaping.
• Black market and smoking: More than one in five (23%) say higher prices make them more likely to smoke or buy illegal products. Illegal vapes are the biggest pull (15%), ahead of smoking legal cigarettes (10%) and illicit tobacco (5%). (Respondents could choose more than one option.)

Background

A new duty on vaping comes into force on October 1st, adding £2.64 (after VAT) per 10ml of e-liquid. The stated aims are to discourage young people and non-smokers from taking up vaping while maintaining enough of a price differential to continue to encourage smokers to switch to vaping. ^[1]

The tax doubles the cost of many vaping products overnight. This stands in contrast to tobacco duties, where increases have typically been spread over time. To try and better understand the impact on vapers, we asked our customers and subscribers what they thought about the tax and how they would respond to it.

Survey analysis

1. The financial impact

Just one percent of our respondents expected no financial impact. Over half expected a major financial hit and 37% expected a moderate impact.

The expected impact was broadly similar across e-liquid users (53% expected a major impact) and prefilled pod users (49% expected a major impact). Before this question, respondents were shown the estimated yearly cost of the tax for light, regular and heavy vapers, which may have shaped their answers.

Data

Answer		%
Major impact	1,084	52.4%
Moderate impact	766	37.0%
Minor impact	201	9.7%
Zero impact	17	0.8%

Data: annual cost shown in the survey (corrected)

Vaper	Usage	Added per year (£2.20 duty + VAT = £2.64 per 10ml)
Light	10ml every 3 days	£321 (survey showed £312)
Regular	10ml every 2 days	£482
Heavy	10ml a day	£964

Quotes

"I currently pay £5.95 for 100ml... The price of my current bottle will increase by £26.40 to £32.35 just for the zero liquid... Got no choice but to stop unfortunately."

"Times are hard and my vape is my only pleasure left I can afford. Feels a bit like kicking a man when he's down."

"The tax rate is a bit steep adding 2.60 a bottle to something that costs 2.49 is over 100%."

"I might as well set up a direct debit so HMRC can take all of my wages in one hit..."

2. Stopping vaping and product choice

Nearly 1 in 8 vapers (12%) say they are likely to stop vaping when the tax comes into force. Prefilled pod users are slightly more likely (14%) than e-liquid users (12%) to stop using vaping products.

Quotes

On giving up vaping

"As a pensioner this nearly doubles the cost for me and long term will restrict my spending probably stop me altogether."

"Been vaping for over 10 years when their tax comes in and I run out of liquid I will try and give it up. I am being a good customer over the years but I don’t believe in paying another £900 a year."

"...when the new tax comes in we will have to give up vaping as can’t afford the new taxes on a state pension."

"I was not aware of the vape tax but now I know I refuse to let the government tax me even more so will quit."

On relapse

"I will probably try to give up altogether. The fear is I will lapse and return to cigarettes."

Changing device, strength or mixing their own

"Switching from Mod kit to a pod kit to try and reduce the amount of liquid used, the tax on shortfills is extreme and hits experienced vapers disproportionately."

"I'm planning to gradually reduce the strength of nicotine but that seems pointless now due to the flat rate tax, whatever the strength of the liquid."

"Post-tax, I'm likely to research producing my own Vape fluid. If that doesn't bring the costs under reasonable control, I will probably stop vaping entirely."

"I expect to make my own liquid in the future with food grade ingredients if I can't give up vaping as I can't justify the cost increase as it stands."

3. Smoking, illegal products and other nicotine products

Stopping vaping doesn’t mean that users will quit nicotine. Of those who expect to stop, 22% said they would be more likely to use other nicotine products, 15% said they would be more likely to smoke and 14% are more likely to buy illegal products.

The risk rises with the financial impact. 29% of people who anticipate a major financial impact say they are more likely to smoke or buy illegal products, compared to 17% of those who expect a moderate impact and 12% of those who expect a minor impact.

In summary:

• 1 in 6 respondents are more likely to buy illegal products
• 1 in 8 respondents are more likely to smoke
• People are more likely to switch to illicit vapes than smoke

Data (multi-select, % of 2,068)

More likely to...	Number	%
Buy vapes/e-liquid known or suspected to be illegal	302	14.6%
Use other nicotine products (pouches, gum, patches)	231	11.2%
Smoke legal cigarettes/rolling tobacco	203	9.8%
Buy tobacco known or suspected to be illegal	109	5.3%
None of these	819	39.6%
Not sure	637	30.8%
Prefer not to say	50	2.4%

Quotes

"I switched to vaping because it was much cheaper than smoking, and use tobacco flavoured vapes, this vape tax is most likely to make me seek out illegally imported tobacco instead."

"...I am genuinely worried I'll no longer be able to afford it and if the opportunity arises for me to purchase illegal vape liquid, I will do it. Sorry, not sorry."

"I can understand the reasons for the extra duty, but it will undoubtedly lead to more illegal sales... I will only buy legal oil."

4. Would vapers have switched from smoking if the tax had existed previously?

We wanted to find out from ex-smokers whether they would still have started vaping if the vape tax had been in place before they made the switch.

98.6% of our respondents said they had previously smoked (with only 29 respondents saying they had never smoked).

28% say they would not have switched from cigarettes to vaping if the tax had been in place, while a further 23% aren’t sure. Only half (49.5%) of former smokers said they would still have switched.

Those who say they wouldn’t have switched are seven times as likely to say higher prices make them more likely to smoke (27% compared with 4%). Counting illegal products as well, the figures are 40% and 12%.

Quotes

"I smoked for 30 years. I switched to vaping 12 years ago... If this tax had been in place at the time it is unlikely I would have made the switch."

"It might be better to vape than smoke but with less savings why bother switching. It's the savings that are the incentive in the beginning."

"I'm not vaping long, I use it to help me stop smoking, it's working well but now with the added tax I'm afraid I will start smoking again."

5. Vapers think the tax is more about money than young people

- How vapers say they will change their orders during the vape tax sell-through period
- How vapers plan to change their e-liquid and pod orders during the sell-through period

We asked respondents why they thought the duty was being introduced. Just 17% of our respondents believed the government wanted to deter adults from vaping, although a larger number (40%) believed the government wanted to deter young people from vaping.

4 in 5 people thought the government was seeking to replace revenue it had lost from tobacco taxes, while more than 1 in 4 thought it was because of influence from the tobacco industry.

Quotes

"We just have a greedy government that offer a carrot on a stick then add taxes once they've got you hooked."

"It's not going to stop teenagers from using vapes, it's just going to cost more for everyone. The government needs to tackle the real issue which is corner shops selling to underage and not punish everyone else."

"I'm not against a vape tax per se, and given the current state of government coffers and the stated desire to increase necessary defence spending... we are all going to have to contribute where we can."

6. Stocking up during the sell-through period

Before asking this question we explained the sell-through period ^[2]. 65% of our respondents said they planned to buy more through the sell-through period, with 5% saying they had already stocked up.

Of those planning to buy more, the majority (66%) plan to stock up steadily over several orders, with 24% planning to combine steady stocking up with one or more larger orders. Only 8% plan a single large stock-up order.

However, stock-up supplies are relatively modest. Half (50%) of those buying more will have supplies lasting two months or less, while 12% will have more than six months. That’s different to people who have already stocked up, with 51% already having more than six months’ stock.

Data: orders between now and 31 March 2027

Answer	Number	%
I'll buy more	1335	64.6%
I'll buy the same	398	19.2%
I'll buy less	224	10.8%
I've already stocked up	111	5.4%

Data: plans (answers out of 1,335 buying more)

Answer	Number	%
Stock up steadily over a number of orders	885	66.3%
Both steadily and one or more larger orders	324	24.3%
One large order specifically to stock up	109	8.2%
Other	17	1.3%

Data: how long extra supplies would last (base: 1,335 buying more)

Answer	Number	%
Less than one month	185	13.9%
One to two months	479	35.9%
Three to six months	367	27.5%
More than six months	158	11.8%
I don't know	146	10.9%

Quotes

"I've stocked up to make about 2 years' worth of eliquid but after that I think I'll have to quit. Don't know how I'll manage that though."

7. Where vapers first heard about the tax

Over half of our respondents heard about the tax from a retailer. This is likely skewed as the respondents are members of our email list.

Only 23% had heard about the story from the media, with 12% hearing about it on social media. Many vapers who don’t buy from specialist retailers may still be unaware of it: in August, a OnePoll survey for Vapekit found 53% of those it surveyed hadn’t heard of the tax ^[5]. Indeed, one of our respondents said:

"I think the only reason there has not been a public outcry is that most people don't know about it yet... None of my vaping friends knew about it until I told them."

Data

Answer	Number	%
E-Cigarette Direct or other retailer	1,074	51.9%
News	483	23.4%
Social media	257	12.4%
Friends or family	145	7.0%
Can't remember	66	3.2%
Other	43	2.1%

8. In their own words

More than 600 respondents (31%) wrote comments. In total, our respondents wrote over 26,000 words of feedback.

Reading through them, we were struck by the sense of injustice and anger:

"The government forced people to stop smoking. And when we all did they then decided to make us pay for the privilege."

"People were encouraged to give up smoking for better health and now the government are penalising us for doing it."

"It's frustrating that regular people are being charged for trying to improve their habits - with significant financial impact whilst wages remain stagnant."

While some felt the tax was a money grab, others said they understood the need for taxation, but argued that the scale and the speed were unfair:

"If it was a gradual rise over several years I'd understand or adjust easier. Such a huge jump in tax is just politicians lining their own pockets for greed."

"I did expect tax to put on vape products eventually but I never anticipated just how much it would actually be."

A number of vapers predicted this would lead to a bigger black market:

"I think this will encourage more illegal sales of undercounter, dangerous vapes, especially to the less well off and the younger generation."

An analysis of themes in the 630 answers to "Is there anything you'd like to add?" is included below.

Theme	Number	%
Money grab / replacing lost tobacco tax	234	37%
Punishes people who switched from smoking	118	19%
Anger at the government	100	16%
Health	85	13%
Can't afford it	75	12%
Vapers will go back to smoking	68	11%
Won't stop young people	67	11%
Rate too high or too sudden	65	10%
Says vaping helped them quit	60	10%
Measured or accepting	47	7%
Black market	44	7%
Their own plans (cut down, quit, mix their own, stock up)	43	7%
Retailers and the industry	38	6%
Nicotine-free liquid shouldn't be taxed	28	4%

Quotes

"Knew it was coming, still cheaper than ciggys."

"You shouldn't be allowed to promote an alternative to smoking cigarettes because of 'health' related issues and then tax the very thing you made people reliant on!"

"I think the tax is grossly unfair as it applies to 0% nicotine products... Even the individual components necessary to mix my own has this levy - so mixing my own e-liquid will be no cheaper."

"...perhaps what they generate from the vape tax should be ring fenced for children's support services."

"Vaping helped me to give up cigarettes and now they want to tax me for it!"

Conclusions

For the vast majority of respondents, vaping has been an exit out of smoking. So perhaps it’s not surprising that an undercurrent of real anger runs through many of the responses.

Many feel it’s just a money grab by the government, while others feel it's an unfair tax on people who have used vaping to quit smoking. Our respondents criticised the speed and size of the tax increase, and questioned why it should be introduced in the middle of a cost of living crisis.

The government has stated that it wants to keep a financial incentive for people to switch from smoking, but more than a quarter of our respondents said they wouldn’t have switched if the tax had been in place. Those same respondents are the ones now most likely to say they'll go back to smoking or turn to the black market as a result of the vape duty.

It’s too late to backtrack on the tax. However, if our respondents' answers predict behaviour, the government needs to watch out for vapers relapsing to smoking and/or using illicit nicotine products. At the same time, health experts need to keep a close eye on smoking rates, and monitor whether fewer smokers are switching to vaping.

Full method

The survey contained 12 questions, 10 closed and two optional open questions. Two questions gave information about the vape tax so respondents could make informed decisions. These were:

1. The financial impact for light vapers, regular vapers and heavy vapers.
2. How the sell-through period works and key dates.

The full questionnaire is reproduced at the end of this page.

The survey was built on Tally and embedded on a web page. The survey link was sent to E-Cigarette Direct subscribers, the window to respond was kept short and the page was set to no-index, so it could only be reached from the email. This was intentional, because as far as possible we wanted only vapers to answer the questionnaire.

Respondents were able to enter a prize draw for a £100 Amazon voucher by entering their email. The survey ran from 22nd September to the morning of 25th September. The period was deliberately kept short to minimise the risk of the survey being shared with non-vapers.

When the survey was complete, each entry was assigned a number which was used to select a winner using Random.org. Permission was requested from the winner to share their first name and city in our newsletter. Emails were removed before analysis.

The survey page had 3,218 visits and received 2,082 submissions (65% of visits). We removed one submission from an ECD employee and 13 submissions which had the same respondent ID. This left 2,068 respondents.

We used AI to help analyse the responses, including coding the open-text answers into themes, and proofreading.

Multi-select questions are reported as a percentage of respondents, so their totals exceed 100%. Combined figures, such as "more likely to smoke or buy illegal products", count each respondent once. Quotes are reproduced as written, with spelling and punctuation lightly corrected. Cuts within a sentence are marked with an ellipsis.

Limitations

The respondents all came from our newsletter list, so they may not be a representative sample of UK vapers. The results were not weighted. We did not collect age, gender or location. The answers are self-reported intentions collected several days before the duty will start, and are not observed behaviour.

Data and additional access

Images and data may be re-used when credited to E-Cigarette Direct. For summary tables or comments and the raw CSVs (minus identifiable information), contact James Dunworth at james.dunworth@ecigarettedirect.co.uk.

Sources

Government

1. HM Revenue & Customs. (2025, November 26). Introduction of Vaping Products Duty from 1 October 2026 [Policy paper]. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-vaping-products-duty-from-1-october-2026/introduction-of-vaping-products-duty-from-1-october-2026
2. HM Revenue & Customs. (2026, July 9). Prepare for Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme [Guidance]. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-vaping-products-duty-and-the-vaping-duty-stamps-scheme/prepare-for-vaping-products-duty-and-the-vaping-duty-stamps-scheme

Other vape tax surveys

3. VPZ survey of 2,640 UK adults, May 2026. Reported in: Convenience Store. (2026, May 4). New survey hints many vapers could easily return to smoking post-tax. https://www.conveniencestore.co.uk/news/vpz-warns-vape-tax-risks-pushing-ex-smokers-back-to-tobacco/718410.article
4. UKVIA survey of 3,500 vapers, July 2026. Reported in: Asian Trader. (2026, July 22). £2.20 vape duty could backfire, UKVIA forum warns. https://www.asiantrader.biz/ukvia-forum-vape-duty-warning
5. OnePoll survey of 1,000 adults for Vapekit, August 2026. Reported in: Clearing the Air. (2026, September 8). Nearly half of vapers would consider black-market products as October tax approaches, new survey finds. https://clearingtheair.eu/en/post/nearly-half-of-vapers-would-consider-black-market-products-as-october-tax-approaches-new-survey-finds/
6. Alternix survey of 1,000 UK vapers, September 2026. Reported in: Talking Retail. (2026, September 22). Vaping Products Duty: e-liquid stockpiling and new products with less liquid, fewer puffs. https://www.talkingretail.com/featured/vaping-products-duty-e-liquid-stockpiling-and-new-products-with-less-liquid-fewer-puffs-22-09-2026/

Questionnaire

Vape Tax Survey. Questions are shown as they appeared, with the answer options. Every closed question was required unless marked optional.

1. Where did you first hear about the vape tax?

• E-Cigarette Direct or other retailer
• News
• Social media
• Friends or family
• Can't remember
• Other (please specify)

2. A vape tax will add the following annual cost:

• Light vaper, 10ml every 3 days: £312 (correct figure: £321)
• Regular vaper, 10ml every 2 days: £482
• Heavy vaper, 10ml per day: £964
• [Based on £2.20 duty per 10ml plus VAT.]

How much will this affect you financially?

• Zero impact
• Minor impact
• Moderate impact
• Major impact

3. A sell-through period allows some e-liquid and prefilled pods to be sold without vape tax. This sell-through period ends on the 31st March 2027. How will your e-liquid/prefilled pod orders change between now and then?

• I'll buy more
• I'll buy the same
• I'll buy less
• I've already stocked up and don't plan to buy any more extra supplies

4. Which best describes your plans for buying e-liquid or prefilled pods between now and 31st March 2027? (Asked only of those who said "I'll buy more".)

• I plan to stock up steadily over a number of orders
• I plan to place a large order specifically to stock up
• I plan to both stock up steadily and place one or more larger orders
• Other (please specify)

5. Think about any extra supplies you've already bought or plan to buy because of the tax. Roughly how long would those extra supplies last at your current usage? (Asked of those who said "I'll buy more" or "I've already stocked up".)

• Less than one month
• One to two months
• Three to six months
• More than six months
• I don't know

6. What has been your main vape product over the last 6 months?

• Mainly bottled e-liquid
• Mainly prefilled pods
• Both about equally
• Other (please specify)

7. When prices rise because of the tax, what do you expect to use?

• Mainly bottled e-liquid
• Mainly prefilled pods
• Both about equally
• I expect to stop vaping
• I am not sure
• Other (please specify)

8. Will the higher prices make you more likely to do any of the following? (Choose as many options as you like)

• Use other alternative nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches, gum or patches
• Smoke legal cigarettes/rolling tobacco
• Buy cheaper vapes or e-liquid that I know or suspect are being sold illegally
• Buy tobacco that I know or suspect is being sold illegally
• None of these
• Not sure
• Prefer not to say

9. If the vape tax had been in place before you took up vaping, would you still have switched from cigarettes to vaping?

• Yes
• No
• Not sure
• I never smoked

10. Why do you think the government is bringing in the tax? (Choose as many options as you like)

• To replace lost tobacco taxes
• To discourage young people from vaping
• To discourage adults from vaping
• Because of tobacco industry influence
• Don't know
• Other (please state)

11. Is there anything you'd like to add? (Optional, free text.)
12. Is there anything you'd like us to explain about the vape tax? (Optional, free text.)
13. Prize draw entry (Optional.) An email address, used only to contact the winner.