Answer up to four questions. It takes about a minute, and we don't ask for your name or email.
Answer the questions to see your result. We don't ask for your name or email.
How the checker decides
It follows HMRC's own steps in Work out the date you'll need to register for CBAM:
- Are you the importer? The importer is the person in whose name the customs declaration is made, or on whose behalf it is made. Using a customs broker, freight forwarder or courier doesn't change that: you are still the importer. Buying from a UK merchant who imports in its own name does.
- Are the goods CBAM goods? Only listed commodity codes in five sectors count: aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, and iron and steel. Some codes in those sectors are left out, including ferrous scrap and aluminium scrap and several ferro-alloys.
- Are they from outside the UK? UK-origin goods coming back aren't charged and don't count towards the threshold. Nor do goods imported for private use, goods under returned goods relief, or goods held under temporary admission with full relief or a special customs procedure until they are released into free circulation.
- Have you reached £50,000? Two tests, both on the customs value. The forward test: on any day from 1 January 2027, do you expect £50,000 or more to arrive in the next 30 days? If so, you're liable from that day. The backward test: on the 1st of each month, have you imported £50,000 or more in the previous 12 months? If so, you're liable from that 1st. During 2027 you only count imports from 1 January 2027. If both tests are met, the earlier date applies.
The dates if you're liable in 2027
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | CBAM starts across the whole UK, including Northern Ireland. Start keeping records of every CBAM import. |
| 1 January 2028 | Registration opens, through your Government Gateway account. |
| 31 January 2028 | Deadline to register for anyone who became liable during 2027. |
| 31 May 2028 | First return and payment, covering the whole of 2027. |
| 31 July 2028 | Return and payment for January to March 2028. Returns are quarterly from then on. |
If you first become liable in 2028 or later, you normally have 30 days to register. The rest of the 2028 dates, and what goes on a return, are in our complete guide to UK CBAM.
If you need to register
Registration asks for your EORI number, your VAT number if you have one, the date you became liable, and an estimate of the weight of CBAM goods you expect to import in each sector over the next 12 months, so keep a note of how you worked that out. The bigger job is the return: for each consignment you report the commodity code, net weight, country of origin and the emissions per tonne, either verified data from the producer or the government default. Our step-by-step guide to working out a CBAM bill shows the sum with a worked example, and how to ask an overseas supplier for CBAM emissions data has an email you can send now.
If you're not the importer but supply one, read what your customers will ask you. The government's illustrative rates and default values give a sense of the money involved.
How Carbon Recycling helps
Carbon Recycling doesn't register you for CBAM or file CBAM returns: we're not a customs agent or tax adviser. What we do is collect and use the emissions figures behind what you buy. On the Growth plan, supplier data requests let you ask a supplier for its emissions per tonne through a secure link and add the answer to your Scope 3. The same figure is the one you'll need for a CBAM return, which is why our post on CBAM data and Scope 3 calls it one figure with two uses. The CBAM pack, coming soon, will work out the embedded emissions and the CBAM charge on your imports.