Spread betting is the tax-free alternative to conventional shares dealing. It enables you to profit from rising as well as falling prices 24 hours a day.

When you spread bet, you never physically buy or sell an instrument (i.e. a share in Barclays or gold bullion), you simply bet on the direction in which you think the instrument will move. This means that you 'buy' if you think the price of, say gold, is set to rise and 'sell' if you think the price will drop. The degree to which you are correct dictates how much you win or lose.

What is the 'spread'?
The ‘spread’, also known as the ‘dealing spread’, is simply the difference between the price at which you can ‘buy’ and the price at which you can ‘sell’ a particular market. When opening or closing a bet, you buy at the upper end of the spread and sell at the lower end.

For example, say a firm like IGIndex  (Britain's largest financial spread betting firm) are offering the FTSE 100 Daily at 4025 / 4027. The spread is two points: if you want to ‘buy’ you do so at 4027 and if you want to ‘sell’ you do so at 4025.

Tax-free profits
Spread betting with IG Index means that all your profits are absolutely free from UK capital gains tax. You do not have to pay a broker’s fee or commission charge and there is no stamp duty to worry about when you open or close your bet. The only charge is dealing spread.

Why spread bet?

Ability to go long or short: When you open a spread betting position, you simply speculate on whether you think the markets will move up or down. This means that the more a price moves in your favour, the more money you make; the more the price moves against you, the more money you lose.

Leverage: Leverage (or gearing) enables you to open positions against relatively low deposits so you don't have to put down the full transaction value. You should, however, note that this magnified exposure also means you can lose more than your initial outlay.

Limited risk betting: To avoid open-ended liabilities many firms offer a full limited risk service. You can pay a Controlled Risk premium to guarantee your bet is closed out at a specified level if the market moves against you. This doesn't place a cap on your profits, which are potentially limitless.

Wide range of markets: When you spread bet you can choose from shares, indices, forex, commodities and more. You can trade a number of different financial products on one account and our deal sizes are flexible so you can bet in amounts which feel comfortable to you.