Changes to the Trust Registration Service

What is the Trust Registration Service (TRS)?

The Trust Registration Service is an online service that enables trustees and personal representatives of complex estates to formally comply with their registration obligations under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations (as of 26th June 2017).

Registration is completed using the HMRC Government Gateway. 

What has changed? 

When the trust register was first introduced the requirement to register was linked to a trust’s obligation to satisfy a liability to UK taxation, so if a trust did not have any tax to pay there was no need for registration. The UK tax liability could be one or more of the following: 

• Income Tax
• Capital Gains Tax
• Inheritance Tax
• Stamp Duty Land Tax (or similar for devolved nations)
• Stamp Duty Reserve Tax  

From October 2020 the requirement to register your trust is no longer linked to a need to settle a UK tax liability and also captures any trust established by a written Deed (with some notable exceptions) and this means that lots of additional trusts will now need to complete the registration process. 

Trusts are commonly used as part of an inheritance tax planning solution and the expanded list of trusts needing to be registered now includes Gift and Loan Trusts and Discounted Gift Trusts.

There are a number of trusts which are excluded from the need to register including trusts which have been set up alongside a pure Life Assurance policy where the only benefit paid out is on the death of the Life Assured. 

A definitive list of trusts which are excluded can be found on the following HMRC website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-your-clients-trust#who-should-register

Deadline for registering your trust

The deadline for registering a non-taxable trust is 1st September 2022. 

If you are establishing a new trust on or after 1st September 2022 you have a period of 90 days from the creation of the trust to complete the registration process. 

Information needed for registration 

During the registration process you will be asked to provide information on all individuals connected to the trust including the person/s establishing the trust (Settlor), the persons controlling the trust (Trustees) and the beneficiaries of the trust.

The information requested includes names, dates of birth, contact details and the National Insurance Number and contact telephone number for the Lead Trustee. Similar information will need to be provided for the remaining trustees too. 

If your trust does not have a named beneficiary, such as a discretionary trust, you will be asked to describe the class of potential beneficiaries, for example, children, grandchildren etc. 

The following link will provide you with detailed guidance on the registration process and the information you will need to have readily available to complete the registration of your trust: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manage-your-trusts-registration-service

If you’d like to know more about trusts, download our simple guide to trusts.

Please note that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) does not regulate estate planning, tax or trust advice.