What is the Trust Registration Service?
The Trust Registration Service (TRS) was introduced back in 2017 to create a central register of UK trusts. Until recently, only trusts which were liable to pay UK tax were required to register with the TRS, however, a recent change to regulations means that all express trusts must now be registered with the TRS unless they fall within a specific exclusion.

All express trusts will need to be registered by 1 September 2022, or 90 days after its creation if later.

What is it for?
The change is a result of the UK’s implementation of the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The increased scope of trusts which need to be registered is to allow for greater transparency regarding trusts and the people connected with them. This is part of the plan to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

Will this requirement affect me?
If you act as a trustee, you should check whether your trust needs to be registered. The requirement applies to all express trusts save for a few exceptions. These include, but are not limited to:

• Charitable trusts
• Statutory trusts
• Trusts for a disabled person
• Pilot trusts which hold no more than £100 and were created before 6 October 2020
• Bereaved minor trusts and 18-25 trusts set up by the beneficiary’s deceased parent or under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
• Personal injury trusts
• Certain life and retirement policies (subject to certain conditions)

If a trust is liable to pay UK tax, it will still need to be registered even if it falls within one of the exemptions.

It is also a requirement to register deceased estates which have not been distributed within two years of death (unless they are intestate), as well as express trusts which were in existence on or after 6 October 2020 but have since been wound up. 

If your trust meets the requirement for registration, then it must be registered via HMRC’s online portal. You will need to provide details of the trust, the trustees, the settlor and the beneficiaries, and also appoint a lead trustee who will be the point of contact for HMRC. If your trust isn’t liable to pay tax, there will be no need to provide details of the trust assets.

An ongoing responsibility
The requirement doesn’t just end on 1 September 2022. The trustees are required to update TRS with any changes to the information provided during registration within 90 days of being aware of the change. Further, any new trusts or trusts which stop being an excluded trust after 1 September 2022, will need to be registered within 90 days.

How can we help?
Anthony Collins Solicitors can register the trust on your behalf as a trustee to save you the time of doing so. If ACS has been involved in creating or administering your trust, then we will contact you in the next few months regarding our registration service.