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Tobacco & Vaping: What's Changing

The Budget confirms that duty rates on all tobacco products will rise by "RPI inflation + 2 percentage points." These changes take effect from 6 pm on 26 November 2025.

There will also be a new duty on vaping products (vape liquid). From 1 October 2026, a flat-rate duty of £2.20 per 10 ml will apply to all vaping liquid.

The government is also rolling out a licensing scheme for retailers selling tobacco and vape products, and a "duty-stamp" requirement (with QR codes) to make illicit or counterfeit products easier to detect and penalise.

What this means in practice: Cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, and other tobacco products will become more expensive — smoking will get costlier. Vaping will also cost more than before because of the new vaping-liquid duty. The government says these moves help discourage smoking / vaping and fund public health efforts.

Alcohol: What's Changing

All alcohol duty rates are set to rise in line with inflation (RPI). That means when inflation increases, the price of duty on alcohol goes up accordingly.

Alcohol duties remain frozen — the Chancellor extended the freeze rather than increasing the rates as previously planned.

What this means in practice:

No increase in duty on beer, cider, wines, or spirits.
Why the Government Says This is Happening

The tobacco and vaping changes continue a long-standing policy approach: using "sin taxes" (on smoking, vaping, alcohol) to discourage unhealthy habits and raise revenue for health services.

The duty increases (on tobacco and alcohol) help the Treasury raise revenue — part of a broader package of tax and duty changes announced in the Budget.

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