Rachel Reeves is considering raising the tax on vaping products in her budget this month as figures show that a quarter of 11 to 15-year-olds in England have used e-cigarettes.
The chancellor is looking at increasing the tax after a consultation carried out by the last Conservative government.
In his budget in March, Jeremy Hunt announced a tax on vaping products, which is due to take effect in October 2026, in a move to make vaping unaffordable for children.
NHS figures on Thursday revealed that one in four children aged 11-15 in England tried vaping in 2023 – up from 22% two years earlier – with almost one in 10 (9%) using e-cigarettes regularly. By comparison, 11% said they had tried cigarettes.
Matt Fagg, NHS England’s director for prevention and long-term conditions, said the statistics were “incredibly concerning. It means they are at risk of becoming hooked on one of the world’s most addictive substances, and that is before we consider the longer-term impacts which are still unclear.”
Andrew Gwynne, a health minister, also said the figures were worrying. “The health advice is clear that children and adult non-smokers should never vape, so it is unacceptable to see unscrupulous retailers marketing them at children,” he said.
An increase in the tax on vaping products would probably go hand-in-hand with an increase in tobacco duty so as not to encourage people to switch to smoking.
The move could raise hundreds of millions of pounds for the exchequer. The vape tax as designed by Hunt is due to raise £120m in 2026-27, rising to £445m by 2028-29, according to Treasury estimates.
Officials are also examining the prospect of redesigning the tax by turning it into a flat levy rather than one that varies by the nicotine strength of the product. Experts have warned that taxing high-strength products more discourages smokers from switching to vaping.
A public health source said the sector had been expecting the government’s tobacco and vapes bill to be tabled at the start of this month, and that the delay could indicate changes being announced in the budget.
“The one ask from the public health sector is that if the duty on vaping is increased then the same happens for tobacco, maintaining the differential and thus the incentive to move from tobacco,” the source said.
If confirmed, the change would form part of the government’s wider public health drive. Other measures announced have included a ban on junk food adverts before the 9pm watershed and a ban on children buying high-caffeine energy drinks.
Chris Thomas, a research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said: “It is right that the government considers new taxes designed to disincentivise or penalise industries and products that harm health while creating revenue to invest in health creation.
“We estimate health levies on alcohol, tobacco, vapes, junk food and gambling could raise as much as £10bn by the end of the decade.
“A tax on e-cigarettes needs to balance their use as a stop smoking device against their current disproportionate appeal to children. However, there are signs that the e-cigarette market will manage to bypass the ban on disposables – and maintain the presence of colourful vapes at pocket money prices.
“This gives the government scope to consider a higher level of vape duty than that proposed by the last government – to ensure vapes become harder to access for kids, but are still accessible for adults who would benefit from them.”
Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of the charity Action on Smoking and Health, said: “We opposed higher rates of tax on stronger nicotine liquids for the very reason that they are a smoking cessation tool and higher prices may put off smokers who need high strength products to quit. A flat rate would be welcome.”
More than 40 countries have introduced taxes on vaping products. A Treasury spokesperson said: “We do not comment on speculation around tax changes outside of fiscal events.”
• This article was amended on 18 October 2024. An earlier version said the estimates of how much a vape tax would raise came from Action on Smoking and Health when in fact they were from the Treasury.
