PM142000 - Registration of partners with HMRC

Guidance on registering partnerships and partners for Self Assessment and NICs purposes (using Forms SA400, SA401 and SA402) can be found at SAM100136. Form SA400 is used to register a new partnership. Forms SA401 should also be completed and returned to HMRC to register the individual partners; Form SA402 is used instead where the partner is not an individual, e.g. a company. The forms can be accessed on HMRC’s website (Archived page). Registration forms should be filed with HMRC within six months of the end of the tax year of commencement.

Note that from 25 October 2010, Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and Limited Partnerships (LPs) are automatically registered with HMRC upon registering with Companies House, which is mandatory for these types of partnership. Specific guidance on these types of partnerships are available at PM131000 onwards. As the LLP or LP will be automatically registered, there is no need for Form SA400 to be submitted. However, it is important that details of the partners are filed with HMRC using Forms SA401 and/or SA402.

Registration of partnerships and partners is centralised within HMRC; further details of this are at SAM100135.

Registration for Self Assessment is complete when a unique taxpayer reference (UTR) is allocated. Guidance is available at SAM100137 in relation to common issues concerning the obtaining and use of UTRs. In some circumstances HMRC may agree that the partnership does not need to file tax returns. Further details can be found at PM287000.

HMRC should also be notified when new partners join an existing partnership, using forms SA401 or SA402. By agreement with HMRC in cases where the number of new partners warrants it, notification can be made on a single spreadsheet rather than using the official form for each new partner. Further guidance on how to do this is at SAM100136.

In certain circumstances a partner in an investment partnership may not have to register with HMRC and obtain a UTR.