PwC's Tax Bites Podcast

We are facing times of unprecedented changes and challenges. Taxation has been closely connected to geopolitical developments in the past century, given the connection between tax revenues and public expenditure. In this podcast series we reflect on the relevance of the geopolitical developments in view of tax policy. We provide an insight into the main tax policy developments that you should be aware of. Our EU tax bites focus on direct tax developments in the EU and beyond.

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PwC's Tax Bites Podcast

CBAM Business impact

June 19, 2026 • PwC Belgium • Season 1 • Episode 69

0:00 | 20:27

In this second episode of our CBAM mini-series, Pieter is joined again by Helena Caluwé and Aurélien Denis to go one level deeper: what does CBAM actually mean for businesses? Beyond the compliance filings, CBAM is fundamentally a governance and financial management challenge.

Our experts take listeners under the hood of the CBAM cost calculation — embedded emissions, CBAM certificate price linked to the EU ETS, the CBAM factor escalating from 2.5% in 2026 to 100% by 2034, the carbon price rebate, and the role of import volumes — to show why the true financial exposure is far higher than many companies anticipate. They explain why CBAM should land on the CFO and tax director's agenda: compliance risks, cost control and forecasting, and the very real cash impact on margins, working capital and operating cash flow.

We also discuss CBAM as a cross-functional business programme — touching procurement, customs and trade, finance, tax, sustainability, legal, IT and commercial — and share concrete priorities for businesses right now: mapping imports against CN codes, engaging suppliers to collect actual emissions data, modelling financial exposure, applying for authorised CBAM declarant status, and exploring optimisation opportunities such as bonded warehouses or inward processing. Tune in!

Have a look at all our previous episodes and stay up to date on www.pwc.be/tax-bites