Effective 1 January 2027 — not yet in force

🇬🇧 UK CBAM is coming. Your CBAM data is already halfway there.

The UK's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Finance Act 2026, Part 3) is a direct tax filed through HMRC Self Assessment — not a certificate scheme. If you're already tracking EU CBAM data on CarbonAtlas, your UK CBAM return draws on the same dataset. Zero duplicate data entry.

£59.00

UK ETS price (2026-08-01) — a rate input, not the tax itself

£50,000

registration threshold, any rolling 12 months

5 sectors

steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium, hydrogen

31 May 2028

first return due (2027 period)

HMRC — Self Assessment
Finance Act 2026, Part 3
GACI Accreditation Scheme
GDPR-compliant data handling
What is UK CBAM

A direct tax, not a certificate scheme

Unlike EU CBAM's certificate purchase-and-surrender system, UK CBAM (Finance Act 2026, Part 3) is a direct tax charged on the embedded carbon in imported goods and filed through HMRC Self Assessment. The rate is calculated as the average UK ETS price × (1 − baseline free allocation percentage) — there is no certificate market for UK importers to participate in.

HMRC provides interim default emissions values that are already indirect-inclusive(Scope 2 emissions baked in) — importers who cannot obtain actual supplier data still have a compliant default to file against. Verification of indirect (Scope 2) actual emissions is not required until 2029 at the earliest; only direct (Scope 1) actuals are required from launch.

Importers who have already paid a carbon price in the country of origin — on HMRC's own qualifying-scheme list (SI 2026/809, 45 jurisdictions including South Africa, Switzerland, Australia, and the EU ETS) — can claim Carbon Price Relief (CPR), UK CBAM's equivalent of EU CBAM's Article 9 deduction. CPR evidence can be GACI-verified.

5 sectors in scope at launch — electricity excluded

Iron & Steel
Cement
Fertilisers
Aluminium
Hydrogen
Electricity — excluded

Five steps to a UK CBAM-ready return

Built on the same platform as your EU CBAM compliance — no separate system to learn.

1

Check registration threshold

£50,000 of in-scope goods value, any rolling 12-month window — tracked automatically as you add import records.

2

Reuse or collect emissions data

An existing EU CBAM CalculationAudit converts into a UK default or GACI-verified actual figure — no re-entry for shared operators.

3

Apply Carbon Price Relief

Match origin-country carbon price payments against HMRC's SI 2026/809 qualifying-scheme list.

4

GACI verification (where required)

Embedded-emissions and CPR evidence routed to a GACI-accredited verifier.

5

File via HMRC Self Assessment

Itemised UK CBAM Return Summary, first due 31 May 2028 for the 2027 period.

One dataset, two regimes

Already on CarbonAtlas for EU CBAM? UK CBAM costs you zero new data entry.

Already have EU CBAM production data on CarbonAtlas? Your existing CalculationAudit reuses directly into a UK default-value or GACI-verified-actual emissions figure — nothing re-entered. UK-only operators with no EU business use the same SEE Calculator directly for their own UK CalculationAudit.

0

duplicate data-entry fields for existing EU CBAM operators

2

regimes served from one CalculationAudit — EU and UK

45

qualifying jurisdictions on HMRC's Carbon Price Relief list

1

platform for HMRC filing, GACI verification, and CPR tracking

Built for every role in UK CBAM

No Agent / indirect-representative persona — UK CBAM does not use one.

Importer

UK entities importing in-scope goods

  • UK CBAM Planning Dashboard
  • Itemised Return Summary preview
  • Carbon Price Relief tracking
  • Threshold monitoring (rolling 12mo)
  • HMRC Self Assessment-ready export
  • Live UK ETS price + forecast

Operator

Non-UK suppliers of in-scope goods

  • Reuses existing EU CBAM production data
  • Zero duplicate data entry
  • UK default-value or GACI-verified actual SEE
  • Direct (Scope 1) actuals from launch
  • Indirect (Scope 2) verification path (2029+)
  • One record, EU + UK coverage

Verifier

GACI-accredited verification bodies

  • GACI accreditation workflow
  • Embedded-emissions verification reports
  • Carbon Price Relief evidence review
  • Shared engagement model with EU verifiers
  • Digital, signed verification reports
  • Client portfolio dashboard

UK CBAM pricing

CarbonAtlas is running an early access pilot for UK CBAM — whether or not you use CarbonAtlas for EU CBAM today. Pricing is being set from real pilot usage, not fixed in advance, so talk to us directly rather than expecting a self-serve price here yet.

UK CBAM — Early Access

Pilot pricing — talk to us

  • UK CBAM Planning Dashboard
  • Itemised Return Summary preview
  • GACI verification workflows
  • Carbon Price Relief tracking
Talk to us about early access

Already on CarbonAtlas for EU CBAM? UK CBAM adds on at a reduced rate compared to a standalone account — mention it when you get in touch.

UK CBAM — frequently asked questions

No. EU CBAM is a certificate purchase-and-surrender scheme run by National Competent Authorities. UK CBAM is a direct tax filed via HMRC Self Assessment. The sectors, thresholds, deduction lists, and verification schemes are all different — never assume figures carry across.

1 January 2027 is closer than it looks

Get UK CBAM-ready before the first return is due

Start free. If you're already on CarbonAtlas for EU CBAM, UK CBAM planning is one click away — no new data to enter.

Start UK CBAM planning free