HMRC transitional vape duty stamps: source check after 31 August

For approved UK vape businesses, the practical answer after 31 August 2026 is simple: do not place, schedule or rely on a transitional vaping duty stamp order from memory, or from one saved GOV.UK page. Check the live HMRC source set, your approval letter and the appointed supplier's instructions before ordering, affixing or releasing stamped stock.

That is not because The Vapour Hut has identified a new deadline. It is because, as checked on 1 September 2026, HMRC and GOV.UK sources do not all say the same thing about transitional stamp purchasing or affixing dates.

HMRC's Key messages for audience groups page says approved businesses could purchase transitional vaping duty stamps until 31 August 2026, and that from 1 September 2026 they will only be able to purchase stamps with a digital feature. HMRC manual page VPDS161300 says a transitional stamp may not be obtained after 31 August 2026 and may not be affixed to liable vaping product packaged after 30 September 2026.

However, another HMRC manual page, VPDS156000, says a transitional stamp may not be purchased after 30 November 2026 and may not be affixed to eligible vaping product packaged after 1 January 2027. The public GOV.UK page How vaping duty stamps work, last updated 26 August 2026, also says transitional stamps are available to purchase until 30 November 2026 and that only digital stamps may be affixed from 1 January 2027.

The right response is not to pick whichever date is more convenient. This is a source-check trigger for adult vape-sector compliance teams: approved manufacturers, warehousekeepers, importers, UK representatives and retailers checking supplier evidence.

If your business is approved to buy, hold or affix vaping duty stamps, start with your own documents. HMRC's VPD preparation guidance says that, where HMRC approves an application, it sends a letter confirming the approval details and any extra rules the business must follow; it also says portal details for buying stamps are sent with the approval letter (GOV.UK preparation guidance).

That approval letter matters because public guidance cannot show every condition attached to a specific approval. If the public source set conflicts, the operational question becomes narrower: what is your approval status, what does your approval letter say, what does the stamp supplier portal allow today, and what written HMRC or supplier advice have you received?

This is also a good point to separate the wider duty regime from this narrow stamp-timing question. Vaping Products Duty starts from 1 October 2026, and HMRC says VPD and duty stamps apply to vaping products sold or supplied in the UK from that date, subject to the transition and grace-period rules set out in its guidance (GOV.UK preparation guidance). For the broader retailer framework, see our Vaping Products Duty and duty stamps guide for UK retailers.

The visible issue is not a subtle wording preference. The sources differ on the event as well as the date: purchase, obtain, affix, package and release for UK consumption are not the same operational step. That is why a production schedule or import release plan should record exactly which source and which event it is relying on.

HMRC says that from 1 October 2026, Vaping Products Duty must be paid on vaping products and a vaping duty stamp must be attached to retail packaging for products released by suppliers and manufacturers for sale in the UK (GOV.UK preparation guidance; GOV.UK key messages). HMRC also says retailers can sell unstamped stock they already hold until 31 March 2027, while new duty-liable stock purchased after the scheme begins must have a duty stamp (GOV.UK key messages).

That makes stamp planning a supply-chain issue, not just a label-ordering task. A wrong assumption could affect:

• whether the business orders transitional or digital-feature stamps;
• whether product is packaged before or after a relevant cutover date;
• when stamped stock is released for UK consumption;
• what the warehouse accepts from a supplier;
• how unused, damaged, destroyed or returned stamps are accounted for.

The penalty context is also real. HMRC's CC/FS87 factsheet says penalties may apply for using, possessing or dealing with invalid duty stamps, failing to follow stamp handling rules, failing to return, destroy or account for unused duty stamps within required time limits, or dealing in unstamped vaping products when stamps are required.

This does not mean every transitional stamp seen after a particular date is automatically a problem. It means the business should know why that stamp is there, when it was obtained, when it was affixed, what stock event it relates to and which HMRC or supplier instruction supports the treatment.

1. Check the exact wording in the HMRC approval letter and any conditions attached to the approval. HMRC says approved businesses receive confirmation of approval details and any extra rules they must follow (GOV.UK preparation guidance).
2. Check the Cartor portal or Cartor support response for which stamp type the account can order on the day. The HMRC Force of Law Notice names Cartor Security Printers Limited as the appointed supplier (Force of Law Notice).
3. Check the latest GOV.UK key messages, VPDS161300, VPDS156000, How vaping duty stamps work and the Force of Law Notice before committing to an order or affixing schedule.
4. Confirm whether the stock is transitional-stamped or digital-stamped, and whether the relevant event is purchase, obtaining, packaging, affixing or release for UK consumption.
5. Save dated evidence of the pages, portal messages, order confirmations and advice relied on.
6. Escalate unresolved deadline questions to HMRC or the appointed supplier before making production, import or warehouse release decisions from a single cached source. GOV.UK gives vapingproductsduty@hmrc.gov.uk as the contact route for VPD questions and mailing-list updates (GOV.UK preparation guidance).

If the business has already moved into digital-feature stamps, make sure the operational records also match the data expectations for digital activation. HMRC says digital stamps involve activation, defined scanning events and product data capture, including product volume, brand, flavour, type, nicotine content and ECID or GBID where required (How vaping duty stamps work). We covered that wider product-data topic in our guide to digital duty-stamp activation data.

The evidence file should show what was checked, when, and how the business acted on it. HMRC's preparation guidance says businesses must keep detailed financial business activities and other records related to handling excise goods, and that HMRC will tell businesses exactly which records they must keep and for how long (GOV.UK preparation guidance).

For this specific source-conflict issue, the practical file should include:

• dated screenshots or PDFs of each GOV.UK and HMRC manual page checked;
• the approval letter and any approval conditions;
• Cartor portal messages or written support replies showing which stamp type could be ordered;
• order confirmations showing stamp type, quantity and date;
• production, packaging and affixing records that match the source position relied on;
• release-for-consumption records where the stock leaves duty suspension or moves into the UK market;
• records for unused, damaged, destroyed, returned or lost stamps.

This is also where previous manual-change discipline matters. HMRC manual pages can update quickly and not every adjacent page will necessarily move at the same time. For a related approval-holder example, see our article on HMRC manual-change discipline for approval holders.

Retailers are not the main audience for this source-check, but they still need a sensible way to read supplier evidence. HMRC's key messages page says there may be crossover in what appears on shelves for a while as transitionally stamped stock passes through the supply chain (GOV.UK key messages). HMRC also says retailers can sell unstamped stock they already hold until 31 March 2027, but new duty-liable stock purchased after 1 October 2026 must carry a duty stamp (GOV.UK key messages).

So the retail question is not simply what the stamp looks like. A transitional stamp on a shelf is not, by itself, enough to prove the full compliance story either way. Retailers should ask suppliers for evidence that explains the status of the stock: when it was purchased, packaged, stamped, released and supplied, and which HMRC guidance or approval terms the supplier relied on.

That is especially important while the source set is visibly inconsistent. A retailer does not need to resolve an approval-holder's private stamp-ordering conditions, but it can keep a dated supplier evidence trail and re-check GOV.UK before changing buying or acceptance rules.

If HMRC updates one source but leaves another unchanged, do not assume the unchanged page has been silently superseded unless HMRC says so. Record the update date, save the page, and compare the specific operational event: purchase, obtaining, affixing, packaging or release for UK consumption.

GOV.UK's preparation page tells businesses to subscribe to updates and gives HMRC's VPD contact address for questions and mailing-list updates (GOV.UK preparation guidance). That route is more useful than relying on a cached PDF, an old internal note or a supplier answer that does not identify the guidance date.

For approved businesses with stock, orders or overseas manufacturing schedules exposed to the cutover, a short written clarification is worth more than a convenient assumption. Keep the answer with the source screenshots and order records.

As of 1 September 2026, the prudent position is not to choose between 31 August and 30 November as though The Vapour Hut can settle the legal position for every approval holder. HMRC's key messages and VPDS161300 point to 31 August/30 September language, while VPDS156000 and the 26 August GOV.UK duty-stamps guidance still point to 30 November/1 January language.

That conflict is the story. Before ordering, affixing or releasing duty-stamped stock, approved vape businesses should check the approval letter, the supplier portal or written supplier support, the latest HMRC and GOV.UK pages, and HMRC where the answer remains unclear. Then keep the evidence trail with the order and stock records.

• HMRC: Key messages for audience groups
• HMRC manual: VPDS161300 - Transitional duty stamps scanning events
• HMRC manual: VPDS156000 - Transitional duty stamps
• GOV.UK: How vaping duty stamps work
• GOV.UK: Prepare for Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme
• HMRC: Vaping Products Duty and Vaping Duty Stamps - Force of Law Notice
• HMRC: Vaping duty stamps - penalties and sanctions - CC/FS87
• Cartor: Vaping Duty Stamp Programme
• The Vaping Products (Production, Duty Stamps and Commencement) Regulations 2026
• Finance Act 2026 Part 4 - Vaping products duty