Next week, social media platforms in the UK and other increasingly bureaucratic countries across Europe will start charging users a government tax on digital advertising.
This has existed since 2020 – at least in the UK – but has been swallowed by Meta and other platforms so far. But these companies will swallow this tax no more. Now you have to pay it.
In the UK, the fee is 2%. In other countries in the EU, it is 3% or even 5%.
Taking the UK as an example, you see how this is not that big a deal but also not nothing.
From speaking to two senior marketing executives in the CFD trading industry, their estimate is that upwards of 80% of ad spend at brokers goes with the social media giants.
If that’s the case then you can see how the UK would be impacted.
In its most recent financial results, Trading 212 says it spent £51.4m on advertising in the UK during 2025.
This would mean…
| Total Ad spend | £51.4m |
| Digital ad spend | £41.1m |
| Additional cost from tax | £822,000 |
This is just for the UK as well.
IG’s numbers are a little harder to get because they don’t break down their UK results like this, meaning we had to get their numbers from three separate accounts and combine them. Incidentally, this may also give you a sense of why Trading 212 has been kicking their ass in the UK lately.
| Total Ad spend | £22.1m |
| Digital ad spend | £17.7m |
| Additional cost from tax | £353,600 |
Given these guys run with such huge profits, I doubt this will be a big problem for them. But again, it’s not nothing.
The amount Trading 212 is paying in our theoretical example is like hiring 5 senior staff members.
They recently moved their main holding to Ireland as well, suggesting they are not the biggest fans of paying the taxman. We feel their pain.
If you also add in other brokers and activity across Europe, it’s hard not to see this meaning the CFD industry ends up paying millions of pounds (or Euros) in combined tax across the continent.
