Do I need to register my trust with HMRC? Which trusts must register, the deadlines and the penalties

Probably, yes. Most trusts in England and Wales that were set up on purpose, which the law calls express trusts, must be registered with HMRC on the Trust Registration Service, whether or not the trust pays any tax. That includes a trust written into a will once it has run for more than two years from the death, and a trust holding a share of the family home for a surviving spouse. A short list of trusts is excluded, and the deadline for the rest is usually 90 days from the date the trust became registrable.

If you have just found out the register exists and are worried about a fine, take a breath. HMRC has said it will not usually charge a penalty for a first failure unless it was deliberate. Late registration is far better than none.

Which trusts must be registered

Any UK express trust must register unless it falls within an exclusion. It does not matter whether the trust has ever paid income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. The register records who is behind a trust; it does not collect tax. The trusts Aaron sees most often that need registering are:

• A life interest trust or property protection trust in a will, holding the first spouse's share of the home for the survivor, once two years have passed since the death.
• A discretionary trust, whether set up in a will or during someone's lifetime.
• A bare trust holding shares, funds or other investments for a child or grandchild in an adult's name. The exclusion for a bank account held for a child does not stretch to an investment portfolio.
• Any trust that holds land or a house, including a lifetime trust into which a parent has put the family home.

If you are not sure what kind of trust you have, the plain English guide to trusts explains the main types, and the family protection trust guide covers the will version and the lifetime version of the trusts sold under that name.

Which trusts are excluded

The exclusions are HMRC's rules, they can change, and a trust that is excluded today can become registrable later. The main exclusions include:

• A trust created by a will, for two years from the date of death, as long as it has no tax to pay in that time. A will trust wound up within the two years never needs registering.
• Registered pension schemes.
• Charitable trusts.
• Co-ownership of a home where the trustees and the beneficiaries are the same people.
• A bank or building society account opened for a child and held by a parent or grandparent.
• Life insurance policies held in trust that pay out only on death, terminal illness, critical illness or disability.
• Personal injury trusts, trusts for bereaved minors, disabled persons' trusts and some very small pilot trusts set up before 6 October 2020.

If your trust is not on this list, or you are unsure whether it fits, treat it as registrable and check.

The deadlines

• Non-taxable trusts: register within 90 days of the trust becoming registrable. For a new lifetime trust that is 90 days from the date it is set up. For a will trust it is 90 days from the second anniversary of the death.
• Taxable trusts: if the trust is liable to income tax or capital gains tax for the first time, register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which that happened. If it has been liable before, or is liable to another tax such as inheritance tax, register by 31 January after the end of that tax year.
• Changes: once registered, update the record within 90 days of any change. Taxable trusts also confirm each year, by 31 January, that the record is still correct.

The place to register, and the source for these deadlines, is HMRC's own page, Register a trust as a trustee on GOV.UK.

A worked example. Margaret died in March 2024, leaving her half share of the house to a life interest trust for her husband. The house produces no income and the trust owes no tax. Until March 2026 the trust is excluded. On the second anniversary of the death it becomes registrable, and the trustees have 90 days from that date to register it. If the anniversary was 10 March 2026, the deadline is 8 June 2026. If the trust had let out the house for rent, it would have become taxable earlier and the 5 October or 31 January deadline would have applied instead.

What you need before you start

Registration is done online. Gather the following first:

• A Government Gateway user ID and password for the trust. This is an account in the name of the trust, not your personal tax account.
• The trust's details: its name, the date it was created, whether it is taxable, and what it holds. For a will trust the date of death is the creation date.
• The settlor: the person who created the trust. For a will trust that is the person who died, and HMRC asks for their name, date of birth and date of death.
• Every trustee: full name, date of birth, National Insurance number or address, country of residence and nationality.
• The beneficiaries: named individuals with the same details, or a description of a class such as 'the grandchildren of the settlor' where the trust names a group rather than people.
• A lead trustee. One trustee is named as the main contact and receives HMRC's correspondence.

Once registered, HMRC issues a unique reference number and a proof of registration document. Keep both; banks and solicitors dealing with the trust will ask for the proof.

Penalties, and why late is still better than never

HMRC can charge a penalty of up to £5,000 per trust for a deliberate failure to register or to keep the register up to date. Deliberate means the trustees knew the trust should be registered and chose not to.

HMRC's published approach is more measured than that figure suggests. For a first failure that was not deliberate, HMRC has said it will usually send a warning letter and give the trustees a chance to put it right. The risk grows if the trust has been told to register and still has not.

So a late registration is always the better choice. A trust registered late is in a far stronger position than one found unregistered during a house sale or an inheritance tax enquiry. The one thing not to do is wait for HMRC to write first.

What people get wrong

• Assuming a trust that pays no tax has nothing to do with HMRC. The register is about ownership, not tax, and non-taxable trusts are the majority of those registered.
• Believing a will trust is excluded for good. The exclusion runs for two years from the death only.
• Treating a child's investment account as a child's bank account. The exclusion is for cash accounts. Shares and funds held for a child are a bare trust and in general must be registered.
• Registering once and forgetting it. A change of trustee, a beneficiary reaching 18 or a house sale must be reported within 90 days.
• Thinking the solicitor who drafted the will did it. Nobody can register a will trust until the death has happened and the trust exists.

Who is responsible for registering

The trustees, jointly. Every trustee shares the duty and HMRC can pursue any of them. A solicitor or accountant can register and maintain the trust as your agent, using their own HMRC agent account; you approve the link with the trust's Government Gateway login. Aaron does this for trusts he sets up and for trusts set up by others years ago, as part of the trusts service.

What to do next

Check the facts first. Write down the date the trust was created, or the date of death for a will trust, what the trust holds, and whether it has ever received income or paid tax. Those three things tell you whether the trust is registrable and which deadline applies.

Then talk to a regulated solicitor. Aaron is an SRA-regulated solicitor and a member of STEP, the professional body for trust practitioners. He registers trusts, sorts out late registrations and can stay on as agent so the updates are not missed. It is a fixed fee, agreed in writing before any work starts.

A free 15-minute call is the quickest way to find out where your trust stands. Use the Plan Finder to book one, or send the trust document over and Aaron will say on the call whether it needs registering and by when.

This page is general information about the law of England and Wales. It is not legal advice, and the right answer depends on your own facts and on the trust document itself.