Overview
This post explains what Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme mean for UK vape manufacturers, white-label producers and packers. It covers the key dates, the operational challenges and how Business Central supports compliance. You will also find answers to common questions.
Key Takeaways
- Vaping Products Duty of £2.20 per 10ml started on 1 October 2026, on all vaping liquids with or without nicotine.
- Every retail unit now needs an HMRC duty stamp, and only approved businesses can buy them.
- Digital stamps and supply chain reporting become mandatory for new products from 1 January 2027.
- From 1 April 2027, unstamped stock can no longer be sold in the UK.
- Business Central can calculate duty, control stamp stock and trace products, with configuration and a focused extension.
On 1 October 2026, Vaping Products Duty turned the UK vape industry into a duty-paying, stamp-tracked industry overnight. Every vaping product made in or imported into the UK now carries duty of £2.20 per 10ml of liquid. It must also have an HMRC duty stamp on its retail packaging before it reaches the market.
For businesses that manufacture, white label and pack vaping products, this is more than a new tax line. It changes how they buy materials, plan production, hold stock, pack orders and report to HMRC. The good news is that most of these changes land in one place: the ERP system. If you run Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, it can take much of the weight.
Key Dates for Vaping Products Duty and Duty Stamps
The rules arrive in phases, and each one asks something different of a manufacturer’s systems.
Vaping Products Duty: Key Dates
Phase one is live. Digital stamps follow on 1 January 2027.
PHASE 1 ✓
1 Apr 2026
Approvals open
Apply to HMRC for duty and stamp scheme approval.
PHASE 2 ✓
1 Oct 2026
Duty goes live
£2.20 per 10ml of liquid. A stamp on every new pack. Approved premises only.
PHASE 3 · NEXT
1 Jan 2027
Digital stamps
Digital stamps on all new products. Supply chain reporting begins.
PHASE 4 · FINAL
1 Apr 2027
Unstamped cutoff
Every pack sold needs a valid duty stamp. Old unstamped stock can no longer be sold.
Source: HMRC guidance on Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme.
Transitional stamps without digital features can be used until 31 December 2026. After that, every new product needs the full digital stamp, and older unstamped stock must be sold through by 31 March 2027.
The Challenges Facing UK Vape Manufacturers
The new rules hit hardest where a business makes, fills, white labels and packs under one roof. Every one of those steps now has a compliance angle.
Approval Comes Before Anything Else
Manufacturing, mixing liquids and storing duty-suspended stock must happen in HMRC-approved premises. Without approval, production is unlawful and carries civil and criminal penalties.
Duty Is Calculated by Volume
At £2.20 per 10ml, every SKU needs an accurate liquid volume. A 10ml bottle, a 2ml pod and a 20ml shortfill all carry different duty, and nicotine-free liquids are taxed too.
Duty Falls Due on Release, Not on Production
Stock can sit in duty suspension, but duty is payable the moment it leaves for the UK market. That moves the cash flow and the liability to the point of dispatch.
Stamps Are a Controlled Stock Item
Only approved businesses can buy stamps, which are ordered by capacity and must go on every retail unit. Each one has to be accounted for: received, applied, damaged or wasted.
Digital Stamps Bring Track and Trace
From 1 January 2027, new products need stamps with a digital feature. Approved businesses must also report how products move through the supply chain.
White Labelling Blurs Who Is Responsible
When you make and pack for another brand, it must be clear whose approval, stamps and duty liability apply to each order.
Old Stock Has a Hard Deadline
From 1 April 2027, every vaping product outside duty suspension must carry a valid stamp, and older unstamped stock can no longer be sold.
None of this can run on spreadsheets for long. The volumes are too high, the audit trail is too important, and HMRC can ask for evidence at any time.
How Business Central Helps Vape Manufacturers Stay Compliant
Business Central already holds the items, production orders, warehouses and sales orders these rules touch. With the right setup and a targeted extension, it becomes the compliance backbone rather than another system to reconcile. The table below maps each challenge to the Business Central answer.
| Challenge | How Business Central handles it |
|---|---|
| Duty by volume | Store liquid volume in ml on every item and bill of materials, so duty is calculated automatically on each order line and posted to the right G/L accounts. |
| Duty suspension | Use separate locations or bins for suspended and released stock. Duty is triggered when stock moves to the market, not when it is made. |
| Stamp control | Manage stamps as tracked inventory by capacity, with item tracking for serial ranges. Record receipts, consumption in production, damage and waste. |
| Stamp reconciliation | Reports compare stamps bought, applied and on hand against units produced, ready for HMRC returns and audits. |
| Track and trace | Link stamp IDs to the lot, production order and customer shipment, giving end-to-end traceability for digital stamp reporting. |
| White labelling | Hold duty and stamp responsibility on the customer card or sales order, so each white-label job is priced, stamped and invoiced correctly. |
| April 2027 cutoff | Flag unstamped stock by location and age, so it can be sold through or written off before the deadline. |
| Approved premises | Keep approval references against each location, and stop production or storage postings at sites that are not approved. |
Standard Business Central does not include UK vaping duty out of the box. Most of this is achieved through configuration plus a focused extension, built around how your production and packing lines actually run. Our page on ERP software for manufacturing and engineering shows how Business Central supports production, stock and traceability.
What This Means for Your Business
The first phase is live, but the hardest parts are still ahead. Digital stamps and supply chain reporting arrive on 1 January 2027, and the unstamped stock cutoff follows on 1 April 2027.
Start with duty calculation and stamp control, because they affect every order today. Then build traceability before the digital stamps arrive in January. Businesses that build these into their ERP now will spend the next few months trading, not firefighting.
Get Compliance-Ready with Tecvia
Tecvia is a Manchester-based Microsoft Partner that helps UK manufacturers get more from Business Central. We can review your setup, map the gaps against HMRC’s vaping duty requirements and build the extension that closes them. Contact Tecvia to book a chat with our experts.
You can also explore our manufacturing and engineering solutions.
FAQs
Vaping Products Duty is a UK excise duty on vaping liquids, charged at £2.20 per 10ml from 1 October 2026. It applies whether the liquid contains nicotine or not. Approved manufacturers, importers and warehousekeepers pay it when products are released to the UK market.
Products manufactured in or imported into the UK from 1 October 2026 must carry a duty stamp. Transitional stamps without digital features can be used until 31 December 2026. From 1 April 2027, every vaping product outside duty suspension must carry a valid stamp.
No. Standard Business Central has no built-in UK vaping duty feature. Most businesses meet the requirements through configuration plus a focused extension for duty calculation, stamp control and traceability.
You can manage stamps as tracked inventory by capacity, using item tracking for serial ranges. Business Central then records receipts, consumption in production, damage and waste. Reconciliation reports match stamps used against units produced, ready for HMRC.
It depends on who holds HMRC approval and who releases the products to the UK market. Agree this with each customer and record it on the customer card or sales order. Check the detail against HMRC guidance or with your tax adviser.
It can no longer be sold in the UK. Business Central reports can flag unstamped stock by location and age. That gives you time to sell it through or write it off before the deadline.
