Vape Duty - How you can help - MP letter Template and Instructions

One of our loyal customers has got very involved with this vape tax issue - while he doesnt want me to say his name - he has created a template to send to your local MP and an explanation on how to use it etc.

Please feel free to use the following template to put your thoughts across to your local MP

I have left the customers explanation to me in because I think it is valid information for you guys.

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Hi Martyn,

Right — see what you make of the below. You may not agree with the approach it seeks to set out (ie writing to one’s local MP rather than to the Chancellor, and using WriteToThem as an accredited, independent intermediary) but I have always got better results this way because:

1.  Writing to one’s local MP requires them to respond.

2.  WriteToThem is a respected and recognised service and provides tracking.

People could always use this method as well as writing to the Chancellor.

Anyway, see what you think. I have tried to provide all the necessary info so that you can just copy and paste…

All the best,  Grateful Customer.

—TEXT BELOW—

Below is a form letter which tries to set out some of the key arguments about the possible unintended consequences of the Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme legislation.

Please note that this letter is written for your local MP rather than the Chancellor Rachel Reeves or other HM Treasury officials. If you choose to write to the Chancellor you can do so at:

Rachel Reeves MP

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0AA or rachel.reeves.mp@parliament.uk

However, we suggest that you write to your local MP as this will put the issue in front of a much broader range of MPs and give vapers’ legitimate concerns a higher profile. MPs also pay far more attention to their own, personal mail-bags! We also recommend using a service such as WriteToThem www.writetothem.com as this service identifies your MP and provides an accredited tracking mechanism that records the fact that you have written to raise a personal concern with your MP. You do have to provide WriteToThem with a functioning personal email address.

We also recommend that if possible you amend this template letter to use your own language and to focus on arguments that are important to you.

TEMPLATE LETTER FOR YOUR MP

To: Your MP

Dear,

Subject: Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme

I write to you as I am a UK vaper of legal age who has used vaping products as a personal choice to enable me to cease using combustible tobacco, and I continue to do so, and I hope you will use your influence and good offices to raise concerns regarding possible unintended consequences arising from implementation of the proposed Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme which will be effective from 1st October 2026. This new legislation introduces Vaping Products Duty of £2.20 on a 10ml bottle of premixed vape juice.

I will do my best to explain what I think these unintended consequences may be.

While I recognise that the Government is introducing this tax partly to raise necessary additional revenue in line with the duty levied on other potentially harmful products, such as alcohol, I believe that vape products constitute a different kind of case in that for millions they represent a safer and less harmful alternative to smoking combustible tobacco products. The new duty may put vape products beyond the budget of some users, inadvertently pushing them towards the potentially harmful unregulated black market or the use of cheaper (and subject to lower duty, because of smaller volume) disposables and pre-charged 'pods', which are considered more damaging to the environment.

I also recognise that the introduction of vape products duty is an attempt to license and regulate the of vape market and I support this. But I also believe that regulation of the marketplace would be better served by putting greater resources into the enforcement of meaningful regulation and enforcement personnel.

I also consider that the legislation may have other unintended consequences, in particular:

1. That it may penalise small, independent producers of vaping products which may struggle with the costs and the bureaucratic burden of compliance, driving them out of business and thus reducing competition in favour of the big multinational tobacco companies that only entered the vaping market in the first place as a means of protecting their declining profits from the tobacco economy.

2. That it will do little if anything to ensure legality and safety amongst unscrupulous producers in the black market.

I say this because I do not believe that the vast majority of independent, small business producers are responsible for the problem of potentially unsafe, unregulated products. Indeed, quite the reverse. Anyone who has been vaping for a significant period – in my case, over ten years – will attest that small 'boutique' producers have long been at the forefront of producing safe, ethical high-quality products. But they have another unique characteristic, in that for many of them the production of safe, legal, satisfying, high-quality vaping juices has never been solely a business consideration: it has also been about being part of an active effort to reduce the harm from smoking tobacco. And many of these producers have long been influential and helpful voices in the wider vaping community, helping people move away from tobacco to less harmful alternatives.

I believe that implementation of this new legislation is almost certainly flawed and that in some respects the unintended consequences will outweigh the good. Please think again and adapt the legislation so that it can be implemented in a way that does not put at risk the best and most ethical producers of vaping products.

-ends-