UK CBAM Services 2027: Who Provides Them and What They Cost

UK CBAM services are publicly offered by 19 named organisations as of October 12, 2026: 5 tax, trade and customs advisory firms, 5 sustainability consultancies, 6 customs brokers and freight forwarders, and 3 software vendors.

Each is listed below with the page on its own website that states the offering, and the kind of evidence that page is. Two publish prices, both software vendors. We found no UK CBAM service page at the seven verification bodies checked.

Last checked: October 12, 2026. Every source page is rechecked each quarter, and sooner when HMRC publishes a statement on agents or filing.

General Summary

A UK CBAM service provider prepares the work, and the importer keeps the tax liability. The charge applies to goods imported on or after January 1, 2027 (Finance Act 2026, section 158(1)), and the UK CBAM guide explains how the tax works. The six figures that frame a hiring decision are listed below.

• 19 providers state a UK CBAM offering on their own websites
• 4 provider types are represented; we found no UK CBAM service page at the 7 verification bodies checked
• 2 providers publish prices, Dubrink and CBAMable
• £50,000 of CBAM goods is the registration threshold (Schedule 17, paragraph 2(2))
• May 31, 2028 is the deadline for the first return and payment, covering calendar year 2027 (SI 2026/830, regulation 2)
• 0 providers can take on the liability, which section 146(1) places on the importer

What UK CBAM Services Cover

UK CBAM services cover five tasks: scoping, registration readiness, supplier emissions data, return preparation and record keeping. Providers differ in how many of the five they take on, and the UK CBAM compliance steps follow the same order.

1. Check scope by matching 8-digit commodity codes to the five sectors in section 143(3): aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen, iron and steel.
2. Monitor the £50,000 threshold under both tests, and prepare the registration data HMRC asks for.
3. Collect supplier emissions data, including the verification report an importer needs when it reports actual emissions.
4. Prepare the return: commodity code, weight, carbon price relief and place of origin for each good, plus the default value or verified emissions intensity used (SI 2026/802, regulation 10, as amended by SI 2026/995, regulation 17).
5. Keep records for 6 years (SI 2026/802, regulation 6).

HMRC sets a limit on the fourth task. Its Policy Summary, updated September 9, 2026, states: "The liable person will be able to appoint a tax agent to act on their behalf and submit CBAM returns. The tax agent cannot register for CBAM on behalf of the liable person and no liability will be attached to the tax agent."

UK CBAM Service Providers

Nineteen organisations met the three listing criteria on October 12, 2026. The criteria are: a page on the organisation's own website states an offer of UK CBAM help; the offer is aimed at businesses importing into the UK, or at the brokers acting for them; and the page was retrieved and read on that date.

Inclusion is editorial and unpaid. cbamguide.com takes no payment, commission or sponsorship from any organisation named here. A listing is not an endorsement, order within a group is not a ranking, and "not stated" means the source page is silent. A firm whose page could not be retrieved has no row, so the table is not a market census.

The last column names the kind of page each row rests on. Several source pages still describe indirect emissions, glass or ceramics as in scope, some because they predate the final regulations; UK CBAM covers direct emissions in five sectors.

Trade and Customs Advisory Firms

Five advisory firms state a UK CBAM offer: Menzies LLP, Saffery, Hooper & Co, S&W and KPMG in the UK. Menzies and Saffery combine tax or customs staff with an ESG team, which matches the two halves of the work: customs data and emissions data. Hooper & Co's home page addresses UK metal exporters; its offer to importers is a free impact check in an article of May 18, 2026.

The KPMG row rests on the thinnest evidence in the table: one closing line in an article of January 15, 2024, written before the legislation. Deloitte's TaxScape note on UK CBAM states no offer, and the Crowe UK and PwC UK pages we requested returned an access error on October 12, 2026, so those three firms have no row.

Carbon and Sustainability Consultancies

Five consultancies state a UK CBAM service: Tunley Environmental, SLR Consulting, Inspired PLC, Trident Utilities and Valpak. Their work starts from the emissions side, with embodied emissions modelling, supplier data requests and cost analysis.

SLR Consulting links the work to its UK ETS, EU ETS and EU CBAM practice. None of the five describes customs brokerage, so an importer that hires one still needs its customs data from a broker or its own records.

Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders

Six brokers and forwarders state UK CBAM support: Gaston Schul, Gerlach Customs, Denholm Good Logistics, Woodland Group, Davies Turner and Alinea Customs. They hold the data a return starts from: commodity codes, weights, values and import dates.

Scope varies widely within the group. Denholm Good Logistics lists "Preparation of reports ready for CBAM returns". Woodland Group draws the opposite line on its own page: "Responsibility for determining CBAM scope, monitoring the registration threshold, obtaining manufacturing emissions data, registering, calculating liability and submitting returns remains with the importer."

Software-Led Managed Services

Three software vendors state UK CBAM coverage: CarbonChain, Dubrink and CBAMable. CarbonChain and Dubrink sell to importers and their suppliers. CBAMable sells white-label workspaces to customs brokers, which then serve importer clients.

Software prepares the data that goes into the HMRC return. Schedule 17, paragraph 7(4)(b) lets HMRC require that its own digital facility is used to calculate the amount shown in a return.

Verification Bodies Offering Advisory Work

We found no UK CBAM service page on the sites of seven verification bodies as of October 12, 2026. The seven are BSI, Bureau Veritas UK, DNV, ERM CVS, Kiwa, LRQA and SGS United Kingdom, and the CBAM pages we read on their sites describe EU CBAM work. This records what we found on that date; it is not a statement that these firms decline UK CBAM work.

The UK design may explain part of this: HMRC's Policy Summary says the installation that produces the goods appoints the verifier, and SI 2026/995, regulation 12(1)(a) requires that verifier to be independent of the importer. Accreditation status is tracked on the UK CBAM verifiers page.

What UK CBAM Services Cost

The UK CBAM advisory market has not published rates: none of the 16 advisers, consultancies and brokers listed states a fee. Published prices exist only for software, at two vendors, as of October 12, 2026.

Engagement Models and Typical Fees

Four engagement models appear across the 19 providers, and the table below gives the price signal each one publishes.

Dubrink's pricing page, read on October 12, 2026, switches between an EU CBAM and a UK CBAM setting. The UK setting shows the two paid importer plans in pounds, and the EU setting shows the same figures in euros. Starter covers 1 entity, up to 1,000 tonnes a year and up to 10 suppliers; Premium covers 1 entity, up to 15,000 tonnes and up to 50 suppliers. CBAMable's page, read on the same date, states that its prices are in GBP.

What Drives the Price Up

Seven cost drivers apply to any quote, and each one traces to a rule in the legislation.

• Number of supplying installations: each one produces its own emissions data and verification report
• Actual emissions instead of default values: the importer must hold the verification report or good-specific verification summary (SI 2026/995, regulation 16)
• Goods made from precursor goods: precursor emissions are added in step 5 of regulation 5 of SI 2026/995
• Carbon price relief claims: HMRC's Policy Summary requires a completed carbon pricing verification form from the installation that made the good on which relief is claimed
• Customs data quality: weights, values and origin must be evidenced for every good (SI 2026/802, regulations 5 and 11)
• Exposure to both regimes: UK and EU work use separate rules, data sets and filings
• Filing frequency: one return covers 2027, and quarterly accounting periods follow under Schedule 17, paragraph 6(2)

How to Choose a UK CBAM Service Provider

Choose a UK CBAM service provider by matching its stated scope to the tasks you cannot staff, then confirm in writing what stays with you. An importer with clean customs data needs emissions help; an importer with supplier data and weak customs records needs a broker.

Questions to Ask Before Engaging

Six questions separate a scoped UK CBAM service from a general offer of help.

1. Ask which of the five tasks the fee covers, and which it excludes.
2. Ask whether the provider will act as your tax agent for returns.
3. Ask who collects emissions data from each installation, and in what format.
4. Ask how the provider separates advisory work from verification, if it offers both.
5. Ask whether the same engagement covers EU CBAM, and at what extra cost.
6. Ask what the provider does when HMRC publishes a new notice, rate or default value.

The registration step stays with the importer, and the UK CBAM registration guide covers both £50,000 tests. HMRC's registration and record-keeping guidance states that registration "will open by 1 January 2028", while its CBAM collection page says it "will open on 1 January 2028". SI 2026/830 gives anyone who triggers registration in 2027 until January 31, 2028.

Importers with EU exposure face a different structure under EU CBAM, where an indirect customs representative can hold authorised declarant status. The directory of CBAM declarant services lists who offers that.

What a Provider Cannot Do for You

No provider can take over the liability: section 146(1) of the Finance Act 2026 states, "The person liable to CBAM on the emissions embodied in a CBAM good is the importer." Engaging an adviser, tax agent or customs broker does not move it.

Section 146(2)(a)(ii) closes the broker route. Where a customs declaration is made on behalf of another person, the importer is the person on whose behalf it was made. HMRC's guidance of July 16, 2026 says the same: "If someone is importing CBAM goods and completes the import declaration (where one is needed) on your behalf, you'll still be classed as the importer."

The five things a provider cannot do are listed below.

• Become the liable person: section 146 fixes that on the importer
• Register for you: HMRC's Policy Summary says the tax agent "cannot register for CBAM on behalf of the liable person"
• Carry the tax: a registered or registrable person must account for and pay CBAM (Schedule 17, paragraph 6(1)), and HMRC states that "no liability will be attached to the tax agent"
• Excuse a missed notification or record: reliance on another person is a reasonable excuse only where the importer took reasonable care (Schedule 17, paragraph 40(2)(b))
• Act as the verifier unless it is independent of you: the verifier must be independent of the importer, the installation and its operator (SI 2026/995, regulation 12(1)(a))

An agent's conduct also counts as the importer's. A loss of CBAM brought about deliberately by someone acting on the importer's behalf is treated as brought about by the importer, which extends the assessment time limit from 4 years to 20 (Schedule 17, paragraph 24(2) to (4)).

When to Handle UK CBAM In-House Instead

Handling UK CBAM in-house fits three situations: imports below the threshold, a default-value approach, and a short supplier list.

• Below £50,000 of CBAM goods: CBAM is not charged while the importer is neither registrable nor registered (section 147(1)(a)), though regulation 5 of SI 2026/802 still requires a record for every CBAM good imported in the course of a business
• Default values only: regulation 4 of SI 2026/995 reduces the calculation to weight multiplied by the default value, with no verification report to obtain (no default value had been published by October 12, 2026)
• One or two installations: supplier data collection stays manageable without a platform

EU-side help is a separate purchase, and the directory of CBAM consultants names firms for that regime.

An in-house team that outgrows spreadsheets can compare platforms in the CBAM software reviews.

This directory is re-checked on this page. The site's paid email service, CBAM Brief (EUR 199 a month), covers a different set of changes: CBAM certificate prices, default values, CN codes and deadlines.

Frequently Asked Questions About UK CBAM Services

Who is liable for UK CBAM when a customs broker files the import declaration?

The importer is liable. Section 146 of the Finance Act 2026 makes the importer the liable person and, where a declaration is made on behalf of another person, treats that other person as the importer. HMRC's guidance of July 16, 2026 lists tax agents, freight forwarders, hauliers and customs brokers as parties whose involvement does not change who the importer is.

Can a tax agent submit UK CBAM returns for an importer?

Yes. HMRC's Policy Summary, updated September 9, 2026, says the liable person can appoint a tax agent to act on its behalf and submit CBAM returns. The same passage says the agent cannot register for CBAM on the liable person's behalf and carries no liability.

How much do UK CBAM services cost?

No advisory firm, consultancy or customs broker listed here publishes a fee as of October 12, 2026. Two software vendors publish prices, both read on that date: Dubrink lists importer plans at £1,990 and £2,990 a year under its UK CBAM setting, plus a free tier, and CBAMable lists broker plans at £229, £499 and £999 a month. Advisory quotes depend on supplier count, the emissions route and customs data quality.

Do UK CBAM service providers also cover EU CBAM?

Nine of the 19 listed providers state coverage of both regimes: Hooper & Co, KPMG in the UK, Tunley Environmental, SLR Consulting, Valpak, Gaston Schul, CarbonChain, Dubrink and CBAMable. The other ten source pages are silent on EU CBAM, which is recorded as "not stated", not as a no.

When does a UK importer need a provider in place?

Before January 1, 2027, because records must exist for every CBAM good imported from that date. The first return and payment are due by May 31, 2028 and cover the whole of 2027. An importer that triggers registration during 2027 has until January 31, 2028 to register.