VAPES could get more expensive under plans for a new tax being considered by Ministers.
Government sources said the levy is being looked at as part of a crackdown on the e-cigs.
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Proposals around packaging and stopping kids using the products are also being mulled.
It is understood the Department for Health is looking at the benefits of a tax – but it will likely be blocked by the Treasury.
Industry figures last night told Jeremy Hunt a vape tax would be “counterproductive” as it helps smokers kick the habit.
John Dunne, head of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said: ”Vaping is the most successful way in the UK for adult smokers to quit smoking.
“It would also contradict the Government’s own objective of making safer alternatives available to the almost six million adult smokers, many of whom are in low income areas.
“Is that the right thing to be doing during a cost of living crisis?”
Insiders insisted the tax proposals were at their early stages and was not locked in.
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The Government will respond to Javed Khan’s Smoking Review in the coming months as they plan to make the country “smoke-free” by 2030.
Mr Khan said vapes were a useful way of curbing smoking, but ministers are worried about the wider population taking it up.
The Treasury would not comment on tax policy.
