On 14 September 2026, HM Treasury made the Finance Act 2009 (Section 101) (Vaping Products Duty) (Appointed Day) Order 2026. According to legislation.gov.uk, the instrument appoints 1 October 2026 as the date when section 101 of the Finance Act 2009 comes into force for vaping products duty and for penalties under Part 4 of the Finance Act 2026. This is a commencement measure rather than a measure creating a new charge. The Order does not establish vaping products duty itself. Its function is to switch on the existing late-payment interest rules for amounts that become payable to HMRC under that duty and penalty regime.
In practical terms, from 1 October 2026, a late payment of vaping products duty can carry interest under section 101. The same commencement date applies where penalties under Part 4 of the Finance Act 2026 are due to HMRC and remain unpaid after the due date. The Explanatory Note on legislation.gov.uk states that section 101 is already in force for other tax purposes. The policy effect here is to bring vaping products duty into that established HMRC interest regime, rather than to create a separate set of charging rules.
The legal structure is narrow but important. The Treasury made the Order under section 104(3) and section 104(4)(a) of the Finance Act 2009. The instrument also relies on section 115 of the Finance Act 2026 for the statutory meaning of vaping products duty. For policy readers, the point of the Order is date certainty. Advisers, compliance teams and affected taxpayers now have a clear statutory start date for when late-payment interest can arise in this area.
The direct effect falls on any person or business that owes vaping products duty, and on those who may become liable to penalties under Part 4 of the Finance Act 2026. Once 1 October 2026 arrives, late settlement is no longer only a penalty issue. Interest can add to the amount due. That makes payment timing, return processing and cashflow management more material than the short drafting might suggest. Businesses within scope will need to make sure that internal payment controls match the commencement date set by the Treasury.
The Order does not itself set the rate of interest. The Explanatory Note says the current applicable rate for late payment interest is set by the Taxes and Duties, etc (Interest Rate) Regulations 2011, as amended by the Taxes and Duties, etc (Interest Rate) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. That distinction matters in practice. This instrument answers the question of when the interest regime starts for vaping products duty, but the question of how much interest accrues still depends on the separate interest-rate regulations.
The Explanatory Note also states that no Tax Information and Impact Note has been prepared, because the instrument gives effect to previously announced policy and is an appointed day order. In policy terms, that places the measure firmly in the implementation category rather than the policy-development category. The Order was signed on 14 September 2026 by Claire Hughes and Christian Wakeford, acting as two of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury. For HMRC-regulated businesses, the message is straightforward: from 1 October 2026, vaping products duty and related Part 4 penalties move onto the ordinary late-payment interest footing used elsewhere in the tax system.