VB Distribution claims to be among the among the first UK distributors able to secure HMRC approval to supply stamped, duty-accounted product from day one of the Vaping Products Duty and Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme.
From 1 October, vaping products move from a consumer goods category to an excise category, governed by the same architecture as alcohol and tobacco: licensed operators, duty points, bonded estates and traceable stamps. Approval is the licence to trade within it, and the only route to duty stamps, which HMRC releases to approved businesses alone.
Read more: VB Distribution extends warehouse space
With approval now secured, VB Distribution can purchase stamps inside the transitional window that closes on 31 August and build stamped stock ahead of 1 October. The approval also determines where the duty falls: operating under bonded, duty-suspended conditions, the charge lands when stock is released rather than when partners receive it, allowing VB Distribution to absorb the duty cost and the administration rather than passing either down the chain.
“Approval is no longer an administrative step in this category, it is permission to trade,” said Natalia Gosciniak, chief executive of VB Distribution. “This milestone strengthens our readiness for the introduction of the duty and reflects months of work across our operations, compliance and supply chain teams. Our retail, wholesale and brand partners will trade through the transition with the availability and continuity they have always had from us.”
VB Distribution supplies more than 50,000 retail shelf placements across the UK, with annual turnover of £500m and 100,000 sq. ft of HMRC-approved bonded warehousing.
