Background
Under the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive which was adopted in October 2020 H M Revenue & Customs (HMRC) expanded the requirement to register a trust to include non-taxable relevant trusts and all reportable trusts created on or before 6 October 2020.
The trustees of all relevant trusts have to provide certain information to HMRC including details about the settlor(s), trustees and beneficiaries, including their names, date of birth, country of residence, nationality and nature and extent of any beneficial interest.
A deadline was set to register these trusts with HMRC by 1 September 2022 with the potential to apply penalties if a registration was made late. HMRC have stated that no penalties would be levied if trustees had registered a trust once they became aware of it.
Detail
A year on it appears that trustees are still being made aware of financial products which meet the criteria to be registered, particularly in relation to investment bonds.
If you believe that you may have a financial product written in to trust you should review any paperwork you have or speak to your financial advisor for clarification.
A reminder of the most common scenarios which require action under TRS that we have come across to date are as follows:
- Trusts which have non income producing assets, for example investment bonds (both UK and offshore);
- Will trusts created on death which hold a share of a property such as the family home;
- Bare trusts on behalf of minor children held by parents which contain assets such a property, investments or premium bonds. Cash only bare trusts are excluded;
- Discounted gift trusts;
- Gifts and loan trust arrangements.
Once a trust has been registered for TRS, if any changes take place, trustees have 90 days from the date of becoming aware of those changes to update the TRS.
If you are aware of any trust arrangement or you are a trustee of a trust which has not previously been registered and would like more information regarding your reporting obligations as trustee and the reporting process itself please contact Simon Butler.
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