Register your trust with HMRC or face penalties

Are you the trustee of a trust or an agent dealing with trusts? If so you need to be aware of the requirement to register certain trusts with HMRC using an online service. You are only required to register the trust if the trust had a liability to income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax or LBTT in the year ended 5 April 2017, or is going to have a liability for the year ended 5 April 2018.

The deadline for registering a trust with a liability in 2017 was 31 January 2018 but HMRC agreed that no penalty would be charged if the trust was registered before 5 March 2018. The deadline for registering a trust with a first liability to tax in 2018 is 5 October 2018.

The penalty regime has only recently been announced and the penalties are:
• £100 for registering 3 months after deadline
• £200 for registering between 3 to 6 months after the deadline
• £300 or 5% of tax liability (greater of) for registering more than 6 months after deadline.
The penalties are not automatic and HMRC will review each case individually. They have also indicated that there will be a ‘soft touch’ approach for this first year.

Once registered you also have a responsibility to update the register for any changes such as a change of trustee or beneficiary. Penalties will also apply to failures to register changes, although at present the online service does not enable any changes to be made! HMRC hope to have this functionality enabled soon.

If you need any advice on whether your trust needs to register or for help with the registration process please get in touch with the EQ Professions specialists via professions@eqaccountants.co.uk or call your local office contact.