Vaping transitional duty stamps extended to 30 November 2026

Businesses handling liable vaping products have more time to operate with transitional duty stamps. A transitional stamp may now be obtained up to 30 November 2026GOV, after which digital stamps become mandatoryGOV. The previous cut-off was 31 August 2026GOV, so businesses awaiting scanning equipment or digital-stamp supply gain a further three months to obtain the non-scannable stamps.

The packaging cut-off moves by the same interval. A transitional stamp may not be affixed to the packaging of any liable vaping product packaged after 1 January 2027GOV; the previous date was 30 September 2026GOV. Packaging runs scheduled for the final quarter of 2026 that would previously have needed digital stamps can therefore proceed with transitional stamps, provided the other conditions are met.

A new condition reaches beyond the packaging line. Even where a product was packaged in time, a transitional stamp may not be affixed to the packaging of any liable vaping product released for consumption in the United Kingdom after 31 March 2027GOV. Stock intended for release after that date must carry a digital stampGOV. Businesses holding packaged stock on transitional stamps need to plan clearance so that release for UK consumption happens by 31 March 2027.

A transitional duty stamp carries the same design features as the digital stamp, in the same size but a different colour, without the ability to be scanned. In law it is a duty stamp on which there is no visible feature capable of being scanned, and the vaping products duty legislation has effect as though references to a duty stamp include a transitional duty stamp until the date the Commissioners specify in a published notice.

For enforcement, transitional stamps may legitimately remain in retail premises after 31 March 2027GOV, so caution should be exercised if they are found there: their presence on a shelf after that date does not by itself show that the release-for-consumption condition was breachedGOV. Officers and businesses checking stock should look to packaging and release dates rather than treating every post-March transitional stamp as non-compliant.

Legal basis: regulation 19 of the Vaping Products (Production, Duty Stamps and Commencement) Regulations 2026Legislation, with the operative cut-off dates in HMRC Vaping Products Duty guidance VPDS161300 on transitional duty stamps.