UK sets £250m threshold for Online Safety fees
Here’s the clear headline for your lesson plan: the Government has fixed the revenue threshold for Online Safety Act fees at £250 million. The ‘Online Safety Act 2023 (Fees) (Threshold Figure) Regulations 2025’ were signed on 18 November 2025, laid before Parliament on 20 November, and come into force on 11 December. The rules apply across the UK.
From 1 April 2026, the first charging year begins. For sections 83 and 84 of the Act (duty to notify Ofcom and duty to pay fees), the threshold figure is £250 million. If your qualifying worldwide revenue linked to a regulated service meets or exceeds £250 million, you must notify Ofcom and pay a fee unless an approved exemption applies.
Timing matters. The Act sets a one‑off, initial notification window of four months from the day these regulations start. Because they start on 11 December 2025, the deadline to notify for the initial charging year is 11 April 2026. Mark that date if you teach or work in platform compliance.
Qualifying worldwide revenue is defined in S.I. 2025/1032. In plain terms, it is the total revenue you received during the qualifying period that can be tied to the regulated service in scope of the Online Safety Act. This is measured service‑by‑service, not as the whole of your business without reference to the service.
The qualifying period is the second calendar year before the charging year starts. For the first charging year running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, that means the calendar year 2024. So 2024 revenue is the base year used to test whether the £250 million threshold is met for 2026/27.
A practical example helps. If a platform earned £260 million in 2024 from the part of the service covered by the Act, it is above the threshold and must notify and pay a fee for 2026/27. If revenue was £249 million, it is below the threshold for that year, but you should still track revenue for later years as the figure can be kept under review following Ofcom’s advice to ministers.
How the fee itself is set is for Ofcom. The regulator will determine the amount with reference to your qualifying worldwide revenue for the qualifying period, and may take other relevant factors into account. These fees fund Ofcom’s online safety functions, as explained in the Government’s note and Ofcom’s published material.
Exemptions exist, but they must be approved by the Secretary of State. Ofcom will publish any approved exemptions on its website. If you believe an exemption applies, you still need to check the official list and follow the process before assuming you do not have to notify or pay.
For your timeline, here are the anchor dates to teach and remember. Made: 18 November 2025, by DSIT minister Kanishka Narayan. Laid before Parliament: 20 November 2025. In force: 11 December 2025; the one‑off notification window runs to 11 April 2026. First charging year: 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. Base year for that charging year: calendar year 2024.
How the threshold was set is part of the civic process we should all understand. The Online Safety Act requires Ofcom to consult, then advise ministers. Ofcom consulted between October 2024 and January 2025 and gave advice in June 2025. The Secretary of State then made these regulations and must keep the figure under review.
Quick glossary for lessons. ‘Threshold figure’ is the revenue level that triggers the duty to notify Ofcom and to pay a fee. ‘Charging year’ is the period for fees; the first runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
‘Qualifying worldwide revenue’ is your total revenue for the qualifying period that can be tied to the regulated service in scope. ‘Qualifying period’ is the second calendar year before the charging year; for 2026/27, that is 2024. ‘Duty to notify’ and ‘duty to pay fees’ are the legal obligations that apply once you meet the threshold and are not exempt.
What this means in practice. Large services are likely to carry most of the funding for regulation rather than smaller start‑ups. There was no separate impact assessment under the Better Regulation Framework because this is a levy, but Ofcom assessed likely effects in its consultation (Chapter 5) and final policy statement (Chapter 10).
If you teach or work in policy, turn this into a case study: identify a fictional platform, calculate its 2024 revenue referable to the regulated service, decide whether it crosses £250 million, and draft a short plan to meet the 11 April 2026 notification deadline.