Register a Trust
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Trust Registration Solicitors
As part of the UK’s implementation of the 5th Money Laundering Directive to give greater transparency as to the beneficial ownership of trust assets, HMRC has extended the requirement for trust registration to most non-taxable UK trusts. However, with only a small fraction of the anticipated numbers added to the register since it opened to these additional types of trusts last year, trustees should be urgently turning their attention to the impending deadline date and the potential penalties for any failure to register.
What Types of Trusts Need Registering?
All UK express trusts unless covered by an exclusion. An express trust is a trust that was deliberately created. These include, but are not limited to:
Trusts for jointly held property where the beneficial title differs from the legal title eg the owners are holding the property for the benefit of others who are not on the legal title.
Discretionary trusts
Interest in possession trusts
Bare trusts
What Are The New Rules For Registering Trusts?
Set up by HMRC in 2017, the Trust Registration Service (TRS) is a digital platform which trustees must use to fulfil their trust registration obligations. The main purpose of the TRS is to reduce the risk of trusts being used as a vehicle for money laundering, where the register includes details of all parties to the trust, including the settlor, trustees and beneficiaries.
Prior to 6th October 2020, there was no requirement to register trusts with no tax liability, where only taxable UK trusts paying certain UK taxes needed to be placed on the TRS register. However, under the new rules, most express trusts in existence since 6th October 2020 must be registered, even those with no tax liability, unless they are specifically excluded. The registration requirement also extends to some non-UK trusts, including those with land or property in the UK, or at least one UK-resident trustee and a UK business relationship.
What is The Registration Deadline Date?
Even though the new rules in relation to the registration of trusts were introduced on 6 October 2020, it took some time for HMRC to upgrade the existing TRS to take account of the new changes. Accordingly, the TRS only opened on 1 September 2021 for registrations which were brought into scope of the trust register by the requirements of the 5MLD.
However, with a deadline date of 1 September 2022, this has still given trustees a total of 12 months to register a non-taxable express trust, although it has been reported that only a small fraction of the estimated one million trusts affected by the rule changes have been registered to date. This means that for the thousands of trusts yet to be registered, trustees will have to act quickly to meet the deadline date and avoid any financial penalties. This includes any registrable trusts in existence on or after 6 October 2020, even if they have since ceased.
Where a trust is set up or otherwise becomes registrable in the 90 days immediately before 1 September 2022, the trust must instead be registered within 90 days of its creation date. Equally, non-taxable trusts created after 1 September 2022 must register within 90 days.
If you have either created a trust or are the trustee of a trust which has not yet been registered with HMRC, you are strongly advised to consider the guidance on HMRC’s website and, where necessary, to seek expert advice to check if you are caught by the new registration rules.
Contact Us Today
If you’ve created or are managing a trust, registering it with HMRC is now a legal requirement but the rules can be complicated and easy to misunderstand. Whether you’re setting up a new trust or ensuring an existing one is compliant, our team is here to help you get it right with confidence and ease.
Our experienced Trust Registration Solicitors in Lancashire are based in Nelson, near Burnley. We offer clear, practical advice to help you understand when and how to register a trust, what information must be provided, and how to stay compliant with ongoing reporting obligations.
With over 35 years of experience, the team of estate planning solicitors at Farnworth Rose is trusted by individuals, families and trustees across the UK to handle trust matters with precision and care. We’ll walk you through the entire trust registration process with HMRC’s Trust Registration Service (TRS), avoiding delays, penalties and legal pitfalls.
As a full-service firm of Solicitors in Burnley & Nelson, we can easily call upon legal expertise pertaining to additional areas of law where where necessary, depending on your specific needs, ensuring a joined-up legal strategy tailored to your needs.
We’re award-winning at what we do. Our trust solicitors are respected across the Northwest for their technical expertise, attention to detail and commitment to making complicated matters feel simple. Our years of experience make us the perfect choice for Trust Registration Solicitors in Preston, Manchester, Blackburn, Rochdale and Bolton, as well as across the Pennines in Leeds, Sheffield, Huddersfield, Skipton, Keighley and beyond.
Wherever you are in England or Wales, our team is ready to offer expert, cost-effective advice to ensure your trust is properly registered and legally compliant, giving you full peace of mind.
To speak with one of our specialist Trust Registration Solicitors at Farnworth Rose, call us now on 01282 695 400 or complete the form below, and we’ll be in touch.
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