UK CBAM · Live January 2027

Environmental tax,
handled.

Oportax is the platform UK importers use to handle CBAM. Upload your purchases. We do the rest — supplier outreach, verified emissions, audit-ready returns.

From £200/month · 14-day satisfaction guarantee

Built on HMRC draft secondary legislation · Updated continuously

UK ETS-linked pricingMultilingual supplier engagementSAO-ready audit trailUK + EU data storage

The problem

CBAM is a new tax, complex to compute, and expensive to get wrong.

01

You owe a new tax from January 2027

UK CBAM applies to imports of aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, iron, and steel. If you import more than £50,000 a year in these goods, you must register, calculate embedded emissions, and file with HMRC.

02

Getting it right is complex

Embedded emissions must come from your overseas suppliers. Each in a different language, on different systems, with different verification standards. Then it has to roll up into UK ETS-linked carbon prices.

03

Getting it wrong is expensive

Use HMRC defaults and you over-pay — they’re set higher than reality on purpose. Underestimate and you face Senior Accounting Officer liability and HMRC penalties.

How it works

Four steps from your purchase data to a filed HMRC return.

1

Upload your import data

From your customs broker, ERP, or CSV. We accept Customs Declaration Service exports out of the box.

2

We contact your suppliers

Multilingual outreach. Automatic chasing. Sent from your domain, not ours, so they trust it.

3

Track liability in real time

Quarterly figures update as supplier data flows in. No more end-of-period scrambles.

4

File with HMRC

Audit-ready returns generated automatically. Full trail for Senior Accounting Officer sign-off.

Savings

How much could you save?

Most UK importers will overpay their CBAM levy by 20–40% if they rely on HMRC's default emission factors. Verified supplier data eliminates most of that premium. Use the calculator below to estimate your potential saving.

£

Your imports of steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, or iron from outside the UK.

What's included

Everything you need.
Nothing you don't.

Oportax replaces spreadsheets, supplier chasing, and end-of-quarter scrambles. Everything is in one place, audit-ready by default.

Verified supplier emissions data

Typical saving: £30,000–£120,000 per year for mid-market importers

Continuous import classification

Improves classification accuracy from ~90% to >99%

Liability monitoring

Surfaces issues averaging £5,000–£15,000 of avoidable cost per quarter

HMRC return preparation

Saves 40–60 hours of senior finance time per filing cycle

Audit defence

Avoids £15,000–£25,000 in audit response fees

Procurement savings recommendations

Typical additional saving: £20,000–£80,000 per year (Scale tier)

For your suppliers

Submit once. Reuse across every UK customer.

Your overseas suppliers can use Oportax too — for free. They provide their emissions data once, and any UK buyer importing from them gets verified figures automatically. No more chasing the same data twice.

Ready to reduce your CBAM levy?

Built for UK importers

Not adapted from EU products.
Not bolted onto an ESG dashboard.
Designed from the HMRC draft secondary legislation up.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Don't see yours? Email us.

When can I start using Oportax?

Sign up today. UK CBAM applies from 1 January 2027, but supplier outreach should start now — getting verified data back takes months. Onboard early and have your 2027 baseline ready.

How does Oportax actually save me money?

Without verified supplier data, you pay your CBAM levy based on HMRC’s default emission factors — which assume worst-case production methods. That means you’re almost certainly overpaying. Oportax makes it easy for your suppliers to submit their actual emissions data, and easy for you to access and use it on an ongoing basis. The difference between the default rate and your verified rate is your saving. For most mid-market importers, this is £30,000–£120,000 per year.

What if my suppliers don’t respond?

We use HMRC default emission factors as a fallback (which are deliberately punitive) and continue chasing. Most importers find that being able to show the default cost is what finally gets suppliers to provide real data.

How does the free CBAMcheck tool relate to Oportax?

CBAMcheck is a one-off snapshot estimate of your exposure. Oportax is the platform that keeps that estimate accurate, contacts your suppliers for verified data, and files your HMRC return.

Can I cancel my subscription?

Yes. We offer a 14-day satisfaction guarantee — full refund if cancelled within 14 days. After that, annual subscriptions are non-refundable for the current period but won’t auto-renew.

Do you submit returns directly to HMRC?

Not yet. HMRC’s CBAM filing API specification is still in development. We generate the return as a fully audit-ready document and CSV. Direct API filing will land before the first return deadline.

What about EU CBAM?

EU CBAM is a separate regime. We focus exclusively on UK CBAM. EU CBAM support is on the roadmap for 2027.

Where is my data stored?

Securely stored and encrypted. We do not share data between customers without explicit permission.

2027 is closer than you think

Get your 2027 baseline
in place.

Sign up today or book a 20-minute call and we'll walk through your import profile, the work involved, and how Oportax handles it.