Check if you need to register a trust
Find out if and when you need to register a trust on the Trust Registration Service.
Before you register a trust
You should check if you need to register a trust on the Trust Registration Service. This is to make sure you and the trust comply with anti-money laundering regulations.
If you fail to register a trust, you may need to pay a £5,000 penalty.
For general information about trusts, you can find out about trusts and taxes.
Check if your trust is liable for UK taxes
You must register a UK resident trust if it is liable for any of the following taxes on UK assets or income:
- Capital Gains Tax
- Income Tax
- Inheritance Tax
- Stamp Duty Land Tax
- Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (in Scotland)
- Land Transaction Tax (in Wales)
You must also register a non-UK resident trust if it becomes liable to any of those taxes on UK assets or income.
If a relief already covers the liability, you still need to register the trust if you or your client needs to claim the relief through a Self Assessment tax return.
If your trust is not liable for UK taxes
The following types of trusts must register even if they have no tax liability:
- all UK resident express trusts — unless they are excluded from registration as a Schedule 3A trust
- trusts that need to get a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), such as to report non-resident Capital Gains Tax (NRCGT)
-
non-UK resident express trusts with certain links to the UK, such as those that:
- acquire land or property in the UK after 6 October 2020
- acquire an interest in UK land before 6 October 2020 and still held that land or property on 30 June 2026
- have at least one trustee resident in the UK and enter a ‘business relationship’ within the UK
Check if your trust is excluded from registration as a Schedule 3A trust
You do not need to register your trust if it is a Schedule 3A trust, unless it is liable to UK tax. Schedule 3A trusts are also referred to as ‘excluded express trusts’.
Schedule 3A trusts are trusts which are excluded from registration under Schedule 3A of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
General exclusion
You do not need to register a trust if it meets all the following criteria:
- does not hold any interest in land in the UK
- does not hold assets of appreciable worth with a value over £2,000
- has not held property with a cumulative total value over £10,000
- does not have an income over £5,000 per year
- does not have a UK tax liability
This exclusion only applies to one trust per settlor. If a settlor creates 2 or more trusts that meet the criteria, only one trust will qualify for the exclusion. Trusts that are already excluded under the ‘Other Schedule 3A exclusions’ do not count toward this limit.
Other Schedule 3A exclusions
You do not need to register your trust if it is any of the following, unless it is liable to UK tax:
- a statutory trust set up by a court order or by law
- a trust used to hold money or assets of a UK registered pension scheme
- a trust holding life insurance policies that only pay out on death, illness, or disability
- a trust for a registered UK charity (or a charity not required to register with the Charity Commission under the Charities Act 2011)
- a trust set up to open a bank account for a child
- a will trust — set up on death that takes assets from the estate and is closed within 2 years of death
- a pilot trust — a trust with less than £100 and set up before 6 October 2020
- a co-ownership trust set up to hold shares of property or other assets jointly owned by 2 or more people as ‘tenants in common’
- a trust relating to financial markets
- a trust created to hold money for people other than the trustee — or those relating to professional services
- a trust holding client money, securities and other assets — this must be incidental to the carrying on of business by a relevant supervised person
- a trust for capital markets and similar items
- a trust created to enable commercial transactions
- a trust relating to registration of assets
- a trust relating to legislative requirements
- a trust set up by government or other UK public authority
- a trust set up by deed of variation as part of an estate management process
- a property co-ownership trust that has ceased to be exempt due to the death of one of the trustees (including statutory trusts created under section 34(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925)
- Scottish survivorship destination trusts
There are other less common types of express trusts which are also excluded from registration, unless they need to be registered to get a UTR because they are liable to pay tax.
You should check with a solicitor, accountant, financial adviser or other professional adviser if you’re not sure if a product or arrangement:
- is a trust
- must be registered
When to register a trust
Non-taxable trusts
If your trust was created after 6 October 2020, you must register within 90 days of it being created or of it becoming liable for tax, or on or before 1 September 2022 (whichever is later).
If your trust was created before 6 October 2020, the deadline for registrations was on or before 1 September 2022.
Taxable trusts
The registration deadline depends on when the trust was created.
If your trust was created on or after 6 April 2021
You need to register your trust within 90 days of the trust becoming liable for tax or on or before 1 September 2022 (whichever is later).
If your trust was created before 6 April 2021
The registration for trusts created before 6 April 2021 also depends on:
- the tax the trust is liable for
- if it has been liable for Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax before
If your trust became liable for Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax for the first time
You need to register your trust on or before 5 October in the tax year after the one in which the trust both:
- starts to receive any income or has capital gains
- becomes liable for Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax
For example, if your trust received some interest for the first time in May 2024 (the 2024 to 2025 tax year) and became liable to Income Tax, you should have registered on or before 5 October 2025 (in the 2025 to 2026 tax year).
If your trust has been liable for Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax before
You need to register your trust on or before 31 January in the tax year after the one in which the trust both:
- receives any income or has capital gains
- is liable for tax
If your trust is liable for other taxes
You need to register your trust on or before 31 January in the tax year after the one in which your trust has any other tax liability, such as Inheritance Tax.
If your non-UK trust holds UK land which was acquired before 6 October 2020
You must register your trust by 1 September 2027, but the Trust Registration Service currently will not let you register these trusts.
We will provide an update at a later date for when you will be able to register.
Register a trust
If you have checked that you must register a trust, you can register a trust on the Trust Registration Service.