Britain switched on its Vaping Products Duty today, 1 October 2026. South African mixers may recognise the headache: tax by liquid volume, rather than by nicotine content.
The UK charge is £2.20 per 10ml. That means £22 in duty on 100ml if the full cost reaches the customer. Eligible old unstamped stock can still be sold until 31 March 2027, so prices will not necessarily jump everywhere today. Tobacco duty also increased to preserve the financial incentive to switch.
We have had vaping excise here since June 2023. SARS expressly includes nicotine-free vaping solutions. Britain has joined a party we would happily have cancelled.
Our market has responded with longfill concentrates, separate base and separate nicotine. We sell that format too. But there is a distinction between a concentrate requiring dilution and finished nicotine-free e-liquid. Removing nicotine does not automatically remove excise liability, and a product name is not a tariff determination. SARS directs uncertain cases to tariff determination.
Here is the catch for British mixers: HMRC specifically lists longfills and nicotine shots among taxable products. Our bottle arrangements cannot simply be copied across and assumed to have the same tax treatment. Different classification rules, same bloody headache.
I support proper traceability and adult-only sales. Shops selling to kids deserve enforcement, not excuses. But taxing every millilitre is a blunt way to tackle that problem, especially for adults using refillable systems and larger volumes.
For us, the useful question is what excise has actually changed: bottle formats, prices, DIY habits, or where people buy. That deserves evidence rather than government slogans.
What has changed in your buying or mixing since SA excise began? Are longfills keeping things practical, or simply adding more bottles and steps?
Primary sources:
www.gov.uk
www.sars.gov.za
www.sars.gov.za
The UK charge is £2.20 per 10ml. That means £22 in duty on 100ml if the full cost reaches the customer. Eligible old unstamped stock can still be sold until 31 March 2027, so prices will not necessarily jump everywhere today. Tobacco duty also increased to preserve the financial incentive to switch.
We have had vaping excise here since June 2023. SARS expressly includes nicotine-free vaping solutions. Britain has joined a party we would happily have cancelled.
Our market has responded with longfill concentrates, separate base and separate nicotine. We sell that format too. But there is a distinction between a concentrate requiring dilution and finished nicotine-free e-liquid. Removing nicotine does not automatically remove excise liability, and a product name is not a tariff determination. SARS directs uncertain cases to tariff determination.
Here is the catch for British mixers: HMRC specifically lists longfills and nicotine shots among taxable products. Our bottle arrangements cannot simply be copied across and assumed to have the same tax treatment. Different classification rules, same bloody headache.
I support proper traceability and adult-only sales. Shops selling to kids deserve enforcement, not excuses. But taxing every millilitre is a blunt way to tackle that problem, especially for adults using refillable systems and larger volumes.
For us, the useful question is what excise has actually changed: bottle formats, prices, DIY habits, or where people buy. That deserves evidence rather than government slogans.
What has changed in your buying or mixing since SA excise began? Are longfills keeping things practical, or simply adding more bottles and steps?
Primary sources:
New Vaping Products Duty comes into effect
New Vaping Products Duty comes into force from 1 October 2026.
Taxing of Vaping Tobacco products with effect from 1 June 2023 | South African Revenue Service
4 April 2023 – The Minister of Finance announced in the 2022 Budget on 23 February 2022 that excise duty on vaping tobacco products would be introduced.
www.sars.gov.za
FAQ: Are products that do not contain nicotine liable for this tax? | South African Revenue Service
Zero nicotine/ nicotine substitute vaping solutions are liable for vaping tax at the same rate as nicotine containing vaping solutions. If in doubt about your
www.sars.gov.za
