Jeremy Hunt's Vaping Tax: So what's Next?

07/03/2024Vaping News

JEREMY HUNT'S VAPING TAX: SO WHAT'S NEXT?

Yesterday Jeremy Hunt announced that, following a consultation, a levy would be imposed on vaping products from October 2026.

Firstly, it’s important to remember that the date is still a really long way away, and this tax will have to be subjected to scrutiny before anything comes into effect. We know that’s it’s coming, but the last thing we want is for our customers to panic!

SO WHAT DOES THE TAX LOOK LIKE?

As far as we can see, when the tax comes in, it will look like this..

• 0mg nicotine products = £1 tax added to every 10ml of eliquid
• Up to 10.9mg nicotine products = £2 tax added to every 10ml of eliquid
• 11mg - 20mg nicotine products = £3 tax added to every 10ml of eliquid 

So a 20mg nic salt bottle that costs £4 will increase to around £7 per 10ml bottle. If you vape shortfills, 120ml of 3mg liquid will go from around £16 to over £30.

It’s a huge jump in cost, and one that we don’t believe is justified. Vaping is not smoking. Jeremy Hunt himself said in parliament yesterday that vaping helps people to quit smoking. The NHS uses vapes in their swap to stop campaigns. Vaping is acknowledged as a smoking cessation tool in every way but a legal one. Because then we’d only be subject to 5% VAT.

Smoking prevalence is lower than ever and smoking related deaths have reduced. With 4.5 million vapers in the UK we don’t think that that’s a coincidence, do you?

(ons.gov.uk, 2023)

WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR THIS TAX?

The government is claiming that this tax will raise £500bn to spend on public services and the environmental impact of vaping. I would love to know where they have got these figures from! This seems to be based on the average vaper using 10ml of liquid per week. We know that figure is wrong and it’s more like 3 x 10ml bottles per week. That’s a hell of a lot of money for a product that doesn’t burden public services!

Smoking costs society £20bn per year through illness and death (ash.org.uk, 2023) and alcohol costs society £27bn per year (alcoholchange.org.uk, 2023). Those are staggering figures and so a tax on these products is justified, as the money recouped helps to support those costs. Smoking and alcohol costs the NHS £2.5bn & £3.5bn respectively each year. A Brunel University study showed that if only half of UK adult smokers switched to vaping the NHS would save £500m per year (brunel.ac.uk, 2023). Why don’t we see this recognised? Why is the government taxing something that has the potential to save them money? Well, vaping is a big industry now, so there’s yet another opportunity to profit from you under the guise of public health. If they cared so much about public health then why did they freeze alcohol duty yesterday? Why didn’t they ban smoking decades ago? I’ll leave you to answer those questions.

There has been an environmental impact from the flood of disposables, but with the upcoming ban on these products, the environmental impact is nowhere near the figure this tax will generate. They will also say that this money will be used towards trading standards enforcement and protection of children. A licensing scheme that’s very similar to the alcohol licence is being proposed, to ensure only specialist shops can sell vaping products. This will generate £50m for trading standards and also help us to reduce the sellers that are selling to minors. We are already making huge steps towards a positive change in these areas.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR VAPE SHOPS?

Well, with this tax and all of the possible flavour bans, it isn’t looking great. Small independent vape shops need your support more than ever. If you’ve benefited from their advice in your stop smoking journey, please show them some love.

A tax burden this high will see the vaping industry handed over to big tobacco companies. Because they are the only companies able to pay these bills. UK vaping was started by small independent companies with one common goal. To help people come away from smoking. For many of us, this is still the goal. Big tobacco doesn't care about you. They care about keeping you as a lifetime customer. In fact, British American Tobacco has asked the government to bring this tax forward! This should tell you all that you need to know about these unscrupulous companies and why we don't want them in our industry.

Vape shops also play a really important role in local economies. Many of our customers tell us that they don’t really have other reasons to use the high street, but when they visit us they will use other businesses whilst in town. Our high streets don’t need yet another blow to their visitors.

By supporting your local vape shop, you can help them to find ways to stay open and continue to provide support and advice. Make your voice heard on any consultations and keep fighting the good fight.

AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME?

Nothing has changed right now, and we still have plenty of time. The industry will take a breath and try to figure out how we can reduce the damage and offer you the best value products. If you vape, keep going. Don’t be tempted to chuck it in and quit cold turkey. Suddenly quitting nicotine rarely works and you will find yourself back on the ciggies in no time. If you want to think about quitting then gradually reduce your nicotine over time.

If you’re a smoker and you want to switch, please still do. Smoking related illnesses kill 76,000 people in the UK every year (nhs.uk, 2022). Vaping will still be cheaper than smoking and with 50% of adult smokers likely to die from smoking, the switch really is priceless.

If you are using disposables and are worried about the upcoming ban then get in touch with us. There are lots of great products that are very easy to use and make it easy to make the switch to a better product. You’ll also have peace of mind that you are using UK made eliquid brands that are tested and compliant.

And remember. For adult smokers, vaping is up to 95% safer than tobacco (gov.uk, 2015).[/vc_column_text]SHOP HERE[/vc_column][/vc_row]

by Christina Carus