About this plugin
org package is Vape Duty Manager Free. It helps UK vape retailers manage the Vaping Products Duty inside WooCommerce without an external service, licence server, or cloud database.
Included in Free
- Unlimited manual duty setup and apply in the WooCommerce product editor
- Product Prices management for products already enabled in the product editor
- Full-catalogue duty removal (restore saved base prices across duty-managed products)
- Storefront product, classic cart, and classic checkout duty notices
- Discount and coupon duty protection
- Order-line duty snapshots on customer orders
- Privacy export, erasure, and optional uninstall cleanup controls
- WooCommerce tax-configuration safety checks before prices change
Pro only (separate package)
- Calculate & Batches bulk preview, schedule, and apply across the catalogue
- Per-batch rollback
- Audit tab, sales and duty reports, and activity log
- Refund duty review and operational duty ledger
- Transition stock management
- Upstream duty recording workflows
- Manufacturer operating mode
- Cart and Checkout Blocks integration
- CSV exports from admin screens
Free includes an Upgrade tab that explains the split. Pro is distributed separately.
Important: review calculated prices with your accountant or tax adviser before applying them. The plugin does not claim HMRC compliance, stock-lot tracking, supplier verification, or return submission.
Requirements
- WordPress 6.5 or newer on a single-site installation (multisite is not supported)
- WooCommerce 8.0 or newer
- PHP 8.1 or newer
- A store administrator with the manage_woocommerce capability
Quick start (Free)
- Settings → General — enable duty pricing and choose the Retailer operating profile.
- Settings → Duty rules — confirm the duty rate (default £0.22 per ml excluding VAT), map a global volume attribute, and choose rounding if required.
- Product editor — on each SKU, open the Vape Duty panel: set eligibility, enter or confirm volume, preview duty, then apply.
- Product Prices — review and manage base prices for products you have already enabled in the product editor.
- Rollback — use Remove Vape Duty when you need to restore saved base prices across the catalogue.
- Settings → Customer notices — optionally show shoppers that prices include vape duty (informational only).
Configure duty rate and volume
- Open Products → Vape Duty → Settings → Duty rules.
- Set Duty rate per ml excluding VAT (default 0.22 ).
- Map a global WooCommerce attribute such as Bottle Size to liquid volume.
- Choose Base price display and Rounding if your shop needs them.
- Save settings. Saving never changes catalogue prices.
5ml. Compound values such as 2 x 10ml require a manual millilitre override on the product or variation.
Mark a product eligible for vape duty
- Edit the simple product or variation in WooCommerce.
- Open the Vape Duty product data panel.
- Set Eligible for Vape Duty to Applicable (or use Inherit / Excluded as needed).
- Enter a valid volume from the mapped attribute or a manual millilitre value.
- Save the product. Eligibility and volume are checked before duty can be applied.
The default eligibility rule requires a selected product category and a valid volume. Explicit Applicable can bypass the category requirement but still requires volume.
Apply duty manually in the product editor
- Open a simple product or variation that is eligible and has valid volume.
- In the Vape Duty panel, review the calculated duty-inclusive price.
- Click Apply duty price (or the equivalent apply control) when you are ready.
- Confirm if prompted. The plugin stores base prices and updates the WooCommerce selling price.
There is no SKU limit in Free. Apply products one at a time through the product editor.
Use Product Prices
The Product Prices tab is for products already duty-managed through the product editor.
- Review duty status, stored base prices, and applied prices.
- Edit base prices and preview recalculated duty-inclusive prices.
- Apply confirmed changes per product or in bulk for duty-managed rows only.
- Product Prices does not bulk-onboard new duty-managed SKUs; enable each product in the editor first.
Remove duty from the catalogue
Free provides catalogue-wide duty removal only (not per-batch rollback).
- Open Products → Vape Duty → Rollback.
- Click Create removal preview to scan currently duty-managed products.
- Review the preview summary and product table.
- Type REMOVE DUTY to confirm and restore saved base prices.
- If you navigate away, return to Rollback and use Continue preview, Regenerate preview, or Discard preview as needed.
Products changed outside Vape Duty Manager are skipped by default. Price history is kept.
Customer notices
Optional shopper messaging is under Settings → Customer notices.
- Product page: automatic placement or [vdmwc_duty_notice] shortcode.
- Classic cart and checkout: total and/or per-item notices.
- Notices are informational only; they never change prices or order totals.
- Cart and Checkout Blocks live integration is Pro only.
Privacy and uninstall
All product, price, history, and order-line duty snapshot data stays on your WordPress site. No telemetry or external data transfer is used.
- Settings → Privacy — optional automated retention for price drafts and price history, plus delete-all-data on uninstall.
- WordPress personal-data export includes order duty snapshots linked to a customer email.
- Deactivating the plugin does not restore prices. Uninstall retains data unless you enable explicit cleanup under Privacy before deleting the plugin.
Supported product types
Supported: simple products and variations.
Not supported: grouped, external/affiliate, subscription, bundle, composite, mix-and-match, booking, and other extension-defined product types.
Troubleshooting
- Check WooCommerce → Status → Logs for the vape-duty-manager source.
- If volume is rejected, enter a manual millilitre value on the product or variation.
- If tax configuration blocks apply, review WooCommerce tax settings and the admin warning on Settings.
- Disabling the plugin never restores prices. Use Product Prices or catalogue duty removal deliberately.