Google’s 2% UK Digital Services Tax has been in place since 1st November 2020, but the charge is now being applied to ads served in additional countries outside of the UK.
More information about what the Google ads UK 2% DST fee is, how it impacts advertisers, and how to ensure maximum ROI can be found here.
Keep reading as we summarise the changes, new countries, fees, and what you or your PPC team needs to consider.
What is the Digital Services Tax?
Digital Services Tax is a percentage surcharge applied to Google Ads account holders’ invoices in addition to your media ad spend.
It’s also added on top of your set account budget.
The surcharge is imposed based on the number of ad impressions or clicks received in a particular country.
The Google DST previously only appeared on your Google Ads invoice or statement for ads served in the UK, Austria and Turkey – but will now appear on statements for ads served in additional jurisdictions.
What’s changed with the Digital Services Tax?
In addition to new countries being added to the list, the DST fee also has a new name outside of the UK: Regulatory operating costs.
Despite the variation in names, 'Digital Services Tax' and 'Regulatory Operating Costs' refer to the same thing – a surcharge applied to your Google Ads invoice.
In the UK, the surcharge is 2%, but beware as the % varies depending on the country. Google refers to this as ‘jurisdiction-specific surcharges’.
Which additional countries are affected by Regulatory operating costs and what % fees will I incur?
Countries already on the list:
|
Country |
% DST fees |
|
United Kingdom |
2% surcharge |
|
Austria |
5% surcharge |
|
Turkey |
7% surcharge |
New countries:
|
Country |
% Regulatory operating costs / DST fees |
|
France |
2% surcharge |
|
India |
2% surcharge |
|
Italy |
2.5% surcharge |
|
Canada |
2.5% surcharge |
|
Spain |
3% surcharge |
Where to find the regulatory operating costs
You can find the additional cost in your monthly invoices or statements. Each jurisdiction will have its own line.
You can find your invoices under the documents section of your Google Ads account.
Things to note
Google Ads can automatically serve ads in other locations outside of the UK if they think the ad is relevant – regardless of whether the campaign explicitly targets that location or not.
If an ad is served to a country where the regulatory operating fees are active – then you will incur a surcharge.
If you want to ensure you don’t incur additional fees from countries you’re not actively targeting – then it’s important to exclude specific countries from your campaign.
Final word
At TDMP we keep on top of updates to Google policies, so you don’t have to.
Contact us today if you need help getting the most out of your PPC campaigns or need advice on Google policy changes.