Handling wholesale or retail vaping products in the UK

You should read this guidance if you sell, store, distribute or otherwise handle vaping products by wholesale or retail in the UK. 

This guidance explains what you should do when buying, holding and selling vaping products now that Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme apply. 

You may need additional approval, duty, stamping, scanning, record-keeping or payment obligations if your business also:

Vaping Products Duty is an excise duty on vaping products. It applies to vaping liquid, sometimes known as e-liquid. 

The duty applies whether or not the vaping liquid contains nicotine. This includes liquid in bottles, cartridges and pods, and substances intended for vaping such as propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and flavourings. 

Vaping Products Duty is charged at a flat rate of £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid. 

Vaping duty stamps are secure physical stamps with multiple security features. For digital stamps, the stamp includes a scannable code for authentication and supply chain tracing. 

Stamps must be affixed to the outermost retail packaging so that the packaging cannot be opened without damaging either the packaging or the stamp. 

Vaping duty stamps are rectangular in shape, 42 millimetres in length and 18 millimetres in width. 

A vaping duty stamp cannot be re-used once it has been affixed to a product. 

If you only sell or distribute vaping products 

If you only sell or distribute duty-paid vaping products wholesale or retail, you do not need to apply for approval for Vaping Products Duty or the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme. 

If you are unsure whether your business does more than wholesale or retail activity, you should check if you’re impacted by Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme before buying or selling stock under the new rules. 

Important dates for retailers and wholesalers