Why Spread Bet

Unlike traditional share trading, you pay no capital gains tax on your winnings with financial spread betting.^†

Spread betting is also exempt from stamp duty. When you spread bet with us you are not physically buying shares or other financial assets. Instead you are taking a position on whether a share price will rise or fall – so there is no stamp duty to pay on equities. Take a look at our list of key spread betting features below.

Key features

• Profits from financial spread betting are free of tax.^†
• No commission to pay: the only charge is our dealing spread.
• Access thousands of markets from one account. We offer global indices, individual shares, currency pairs, and commodities such as crude oil and precious metals, as well as sectors, bonds, options, binary bets and many more: all from our trading platform.
• Open positions without putting up the full transaction value; this is known as 'gearing'. For example, if you were to open a position in Vodafone worth the equivalent of £10,000, we would ask you to initially margin just £500, or 5% of your exposure. It's important to understand that this magnified exposure means you can lose more than your initial deposit.
• Spread bet whenever and wherever you want. There are no restrictions as to when you can place a bet, with many of our markets available even when the underlying market is closed. We offer the largest number of 24-hour quotes on stock indices, giving you the freedom to deal whenever it suits you. And with many mobile dealing options available, you can access your account whenever you need to, wherever you are.
• Limit your losses with our comprehensive suite of tools to help you manage your risk. For a small premium, our guaranteed stops allow you to put an absolute limit on your risk without affecting your potential profits.

What is the 'spread'?

The spread is the difference between the price you can 'buy' at and the price you can 'sell' at. You would 'buy' ('go long') at the higher price if you think the market will rise, or 'sell' ('go short') at the lower price if you think it will fall.

As a spread bettor, you want the difference between the 'buy' and 'sell' prices – the 'spread' – to be as low as possible, so the market does not have to move far before you are in profit.

We are committed to offering the tightest spreads available.

Learn more

For further information see our easy-to-use examples or range of seminars. Alternatively, if you're ready to start you can open an account in minutes.