An Employee Benefit Trust Must-Read!

It has always been the case that all UK trusts must be registered with HMRC. The registration must be made by 5th October following the tax year in which the trust was established.

Up until recent times the completion of a paper form 41g would suffice in notifying HMRC of a newly established trust. In return, HMRC would acknowledge this by letter and issue the trustees with a Unique Tax Reference for insertion on the annual Trust Self-Assessment Return. Trustees could then apply for an online account to file their returns and keep track of any payments made to HMRC.

The digital replacement for the 41g form

In line with HMRC’s initiative to move their services onto an online system, they have launched the ‘Trust Registration Service’, removing the 41g form. New and existing trusts must use this service so having filed a 41g in the past does not get you off the hook!

When you must do it by:

If the trust was established in the 2016/17 tax year the usual deadline for registration would be 5th October 2017. However, HMRC has extended this to 5th December 2017. An existing trust must be registered by 31st January 2018.

Remember to submit your trust and Self-Assessment tax return by 31st January 2018 (31st October 2017 if submitting by paper)

Failure to register a trust could result in a penalty. HMRC have said they will review and issue penalties on a case by case basis.

Failure to submit a return on time will result in an initial penalty of £100 with further penalties being charged depending on how late the return is and interest on any tax due.

What you will be asked for:

The system has been designed to only ask for information relevant to the particular trust being registered. Trustees will need to update the register each year in which the trust generates a UK tax consequence. The register will ask for the following information:

• Details of the trust assets
• the identity of the Settlor (up to two can be entered), trustees, protector (if any), and other persons exercising effective control over the trust, and the beneficiaries or class of beneficiaries for whom they request:
• Name
• Date of Birth
• National Insurance Number (UK resident)
• Address and passport ID (for Non UK residents)

For more information visit the HMRC website: Trusts and estate registrations service

An agent login for this service is currently in development and should be available in October 2017.