Can voluntary carbon credits cut our UK buyer's CBAM charge?
No. HMRC says voluntary carbon pricing schemes do not qualify for UK CBAM relief, even when a government runs them. Credits you buy or retire on the voluntary market do not lower the embodied emissions of your goods either. Only removal credits used inside a qualifying scheme with public rules and prices can count.
Why credits do not reduce the figure
- The UK charge is on embodied emissions per tonne, from verified plant data or defaults.
- Relief is only for carbon price paid under a qualifying scheme that is mandatory by law.
- HMRC lists voluntary schemes among those that do not qualify.
The narrow exception
Where a qualifying scheme lets installations meet obligations with greenhouse gas removal credits, and its rules and the price of those credits are public, they can enter the effective carbon price. If not public, they cannot be used for relief.
What does cut the charge
- Lower direct emissions: fuel switching, heat recovery, better furnaces.
- Verified actual data when it is below the default.
- Carbon price actually paid under a qualifying scheme.
What Senseible does here
Senseible lists issued credits on its marketplace for buyers who want them for voluntary claims; they do not reduce UK CBAM. We build the figure from your records and check every figure in-house; for the UK it must then be verified by a verifier accredited for UK CBAM. Have your own verifier? Send it to them.
Sources: HMRC, Check if your goods have been subject to a qualifying carbon pricing scheme, HMRC, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): Policy summary (updated 2 November 2026)
Last reviewed 2026-11-02.