Tobacco Age of Sale 2027: Who Can Buy Cigarettes From January?

From 1 January 2027, the rules on who can legally be sold tobacco products, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers will change across the UK. Instead of using a simple age limit, the new system uses a fixed date of birth: retailers will not be able to sell these products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.

What is changing on 1 January 2027?

The change replaces the existing age-of-sale test for these products with a fixed date-of-birth rule. From 1 January 2027, a retailer committing a retail sale offence cannot sell tobacco products, herbal smoking products or cigarette papers to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.

That means the rule does not simply ask whether someone is under 18 on the day they shop. Instead, retailers need to establish whether the customer’s date of birth is before 1 January 2009. The new rule applies to retail sales, including sales made online.

Who will no longer be able to buy tobacco?

The simplest way to understand the change is to look at the date of birth. Anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will fall within the new sales restriction from 1 January 2027.

Which products are covered?

The official guidance says the new age-of-sale restriction covers tobacco products, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers. Tobacco products include cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco, cigars, cigarillos, pipe tobacco, waterpipe tobacco such as shisha, nasal tobacco, chewing tobacco, heated tobacco and tobacco blunts.

Herbal smoking products include products such as herbal blunts, herbal cigarettes and herbal shisha. Cigarette papers are also covered by the restriction.

Some oral tobacco products, including snus and other relevant oral tobacco products, are already banned in the UK and are not made lawful by this new age-of-sale change.

What about cigarettes, rolling tobacco and cigars?

Yes. Cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco and cigars are all within the tobacco products covered by the new restriction. The same date-of-birth rule applies: from 1 January 2027, retailers cannot sell them to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.

What about vaping and nicotine products?

Vaping products and other nicotine products are subject to separate rules. The new tobacco age-of-sale rule should not be confused with the separate age restrictions applying to vaping and nicotine products.

For example, the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 keeps a separate under-18 sales rule for vaping and nicotine products. This article is about the tobacco, herbal smoking product and cigarette paper restrictions that use the 1 January 2009 date-of-birth test.

What is proxy purchasing?

Proxy purchasing is when an adult buys the covered products on behalf of someone who cannot legally be sold them. From 1 January 2027, it will be an offence for someone aged 18 or over to buy, or attempt to buy, tobacco products, herbal smoking products or cigarette papers on behalf of someone born on or after 1 January 2009.

This is a separate offence from a retailer making an unlawful sale. Retail staff are expected to be alert to possible proxy purchasing and should refuse a sale where they suspect that a customer is attempting to buy the products for someone covered by the new restriction.

What does this mean for parents and carers?

For parents and carers, the important point is that the legislation changes the legal age-of-sale system rather than introducing a general rule that everyone under 18 is treated in exactly the same way. A person born on or after 1 January 2009 will be within the new restriction, and an adult aged 18 or over can also commit an offence by buying the covered products on their behalf.

What does this mean for retailers?

Retailers will need to make sure staff understand the new date-of-birth test and know when age verification is required. The official guidance says that if a retailer is unsure whether a customer was born before 1 January 2009, the customer’s age should be verified.

The details of the age-verification defence differ between jurisdictions. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, regulations set out the steps retailers can take to establish that a customer was born before 1 January 2009. Scotland has its own age-verification requirements and approved forms of identification under its legislation.

Retailers also need to update the tobacco age-of-sale notice displayed at points of sale. From 1 January 2027, the required wording in Great Britain is that it is illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, with additional Welsh wording required in Wales.

Does the change apply across the UK?

Yes. The official guidance applies the new age-of-sale restrictions to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The underlying legislation makes corresponding changes across the four nations, although some enforcement and age-verification details differ.

Can the products still be sold wholesale?

The new age-of-sale restriction applies to retail sales. It does not apply to business-to-business wholesale sales or sales to an organisation in the same way. The official guidance gives examples of people born on or after 1 January 2009 being able to buy stock from a wholesaler when doing so in connection with a business or research organisation, while a retailer cannot sell covered products to them for personal use.

What about duty-free sales?

UK duty-free sales are still subject to UK age-of-sale restrictions. Where tobacco or the other covered products are bought outside the UK, the local age-of-sale rules apply in the country where the purchase is made.

What happens if someone breaks the rules?

There are offences for unlawful sales and for proxy purchasing, but the penalties can differ depending on the offence and jurisdiction. In England, Wales and Scotland, the official guidance says a person who commits a proxy purchasing offence may receive a £200 fixed penalty notice. The legislation and official guidance should be checked for the precise enforcement position applying to any particular case.

What is not changing?

The new rule does not make vaping products subject to the same date-of-birth test. Vaping and nicotine products have separate age-of-sale provisions. It also does not turn the tobacco restriction into a general ban on possession simply because someone was born on or after 1 January 2009. The key legal change is the restriction on retail sales and the related proxy-purchasing offence.

What should people know before 1 January 2027?

The practical point is to remember the date rather than trying to calculate an age. From 1 January 2027, retailers need to establish that a customer buying the covered products was born before 1 January 2009. People in the affected group will not be able to make a legal retail purchase of those products, and adults aged 18 or over can also commit an offence by buying them on their behalf.

What is confirmed and what is still to come?

Information checked

GOV.UK: Selling tobacco, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers

legislation.gov.uk: Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026

GOV.UK: Smoking and vaping guidance, policy and regulation

This article is provided for general information based on the rules and guidance available when checked. It is not legal or professional advice, and the rules may change. Where you need advice about a particular situation, check the relevant official guidance or seek professional advice.