Thinking of Switching? What the Vape Tax Means for You

If you're a smoker who has been meaning to switch, the news about a vape tax may feel like a reason to wait and see. It isn't, and the reasons are worth setting out plainly.

This one's for existing smokers. If you don't smoke, the advice is simple and unchanged: don't start vaping either.

The gap is being protected, not closed

The Vaping Products Duty starts on 1 October 2026 at £2.20 per 10ml. Tobacco duty rises on the same date, deliberately, to preserve the price difference between smoking and vaping.

So the change doesn't reverse the cost case — it shifts both sides. A 20-a-day habit runs at roughly £6,000 a year and climbing. A former smoker on an MTL pod kit, duty included, runs at roughly £570 a year. The full working is in is vaping still cheaper than smoking after the tax.

Waiting costs more than switching

The instinct to wait until things settle is understandable. But every week spent waiting is a week of cigarette spend at £115 or so, against a vaping cost of around £11 for the same week. The duty doesn't change that ratio much — and it's the ratio that matters.

If anything, starting before October gives you a run-in at pre-duty prices while you work out which strength and flavour suit you, which is exactly the stage where people buy a few things that don't work out.

Start in a way that keeps costs low

Because the duty is charged per millilitre, the setup you choose now determines what you'll pay for years. Two decisions do most of the work:

• Choose an MTL pod kit, not a big sub-ohm device. MTL draws are closer to a cigarette, and they use far fewer millilitres. See MTL vs DTL.

• Get the nicotine strength right first time. Too low and you'll vape more to compensate, which costs more and satisfies less. For most 20-a-day smokers that means 20mg nic salts — see nicotine strength for beginners and 10mg vs 20mg nic salt.

Get those two right and you'll be in the lowest-cost bracket of vaping from day one, duty or no duty.

What to buy

• Kit: best beginner vape kits 2026, or best vape kits under £20 if you'd rather not spend much before you know it suits you.

• Liquid: best e-liquids for beginners 2026. If you're coming straight off cigarettes, tobacco flavours are often the easiest starting point, though most people move to fruit or menthol within a few weeks.

• The whole process: switching from smoking to vaping — a complete beginner's guide, and the 30-day plan if you want structure.

If cost isn't the sticking point

For a lot of people it's the cravings and the habit, not the money. How to beat nicotine cravings and vaping vs patches vs gum cover the practical side. Your local stop-smoking service is free and genuinely useful, and we'd always encourage using it alongside.

Come and ask

If you'd rather talk it through than read about it, come into either of our Northampton shops and we'll go through the options with you — no pressure, and we'd rather set you up with something that works than sell you something that doesn't. Details on our Northampton vape shops page.

You must be 18 or over to buy vaping products, and we ID.