From 1st July 2026, Meta began passing on the cost of the Digital Services Tax (DST) directly to advertisers. If your campaigns target audiences in the UK, Austria, France, Italy, Spain or Türkiye, these location fees will be added on top of your ad spend, regardless of where your business is based. Here is everything you need to know.
What Are Meta’s Location Fees?
Meta’s location fees are percentage-based charges added to your ad bill to cover the cost of Digital Services Taxes (DST) and other government-imposed levies in certain jurisdictions. These fees are separate from your campaign budget and are calculated based on where your ad impressions are delivered; not where your business is registered.
The fees are charged after your ads have been delivered and will appear as a distinct line item on your invoice. Because they sit outside your campaign budget, your total charges may exceed your set spend limit.
The current rates are:
- Austria: 5%
- Türkiye: 5%
- France: 3%
- Italy: 3%
- Spain: 3%
- United Kingdom: 2%
These rates may change over time as governments introduce or update DST legislation. It is worth noting that location fees apply to all ad formats (images, videos, and WhatsApp click-to-message campaigns) and apply regardless of your chosen payment method.
VAT is calculated on top of the combined total (your ad spend plus the location fee), not on your ad spend alone.
What Is the Digital Services Tax?
The Digital Services Tax is a government-imposed levy designed to ensure that large, multinational tech companies contribute a portion of the revenue they generate from local audiences back into those economies.
France was among the first to introduce a DST in 2019, with the UK following suit in 2020. Since then, several other European nations have implemented their own versions of the tax.
For years, Meta absorbed these costs rather than passing them on to advertisers. Other platforms, including Google, transferred this charge to advertisers much earlier. Now, as Meta’s dominance in the paid social landscape grows and competition for ad placements reaches an all-time high, the platform is aligning with industry norms and passing the cost on.
What If My Ads Target Multiple Locations?
If a campaign targets more than one country, the location fee is calculated based on the volume of impressions delivered in each jurisdiction. For example, a campaign targeting both the United Kingdom and the United States would only incur the 2% UK location fee on impressions delivered to UK users. US impressions would attract no location fee.
Your invoice will clearly itemise fees by jurisdiction, so you will have full visibility over what you are being charged and where.
Will Coupons Cover Location Fees?
Yes, coupons do apply to location fees. According to Meta, coupons are applied across the total invoice amount (ad spend plus location fee) on a pro-rata basis. For example, a £10.00 ad spend with a £0.20 UK location fee gives a total of £10.20. A £5.00 coupon would be split proportionally, leaving a remaining balance of £5.20.
Where Can I See My Meta Location Fees?
Location fees will not appear in Ads Manager reporting metrics. To view them, you will need to check your invoices or the billing and payments section of Business Suite, where they will be itemised by jurisdiction. Monthly invoicing customers can also access a campaign-level breakdown via a CSV report in Billing & Payments.
How Can I Avoid Paying the Digital Services Tax?
If your ads are targeting audiences in one of the affected regions, there is no way to opt out of the location fee. That said, reducing your ad spend to compensate is rarely the right move, especially in a climate where ad competition continues to intensify. Cutting budget makes it harder, not easier, to recover any revenue impact from the additional cost.
The smarter approach is to review your campaigns and ensure every pound of your ad spend is working as hard as it can. Tightening your targeting, refining your creative, and eliminating wasteful spend can go a long way in offsetting the impact of the new fees.
Digital marketing specialists like Mosaic Digital Media can help you audit and optimise your Meta campaigns to minimise unnecessary expenditure. If you manage your Meta account through a third party, take a look at this guide on how to safely share your Meta Business Portfolio with a Partner.
If you are concerned about how the new location fees might affect your campaigns, Mosaic Digital Media is offering a free campaign audit to identify where you could be saving money. Get in touch today.
