Trustees who last looked at the trust register requirements a few years ago are working from an outdated picture. The rule used to be simple: only trusts with a UK tax liability needed to register. Since October 2020, that’s no longer true – the scope was expanded hugely, and further changes are landing again in 2026. On top of that, some UK trusts now have a second register to think about entirely, in Ireland.
Almost every UK trust is now in scope
Since October 2020, most UK express trusts must register with HMRC’s Trust Registration Service whether or not they have any UK tax to pay. There are exclusions – UK registered pension schemes, most charitable trusts, certain small “pilot” trusts set up before October 2020 holding £100 or less, and bereaved minors’ trusts among them – but the default position has flipped from “register if taxable” to “register unless excluded.” If your trust was set up on the old assumption that no tax liability meant no registration, it’s worth checking that assumption still holds.
More changes are arriving in 2026
HMRC is amending the rules again, expected to take effect in early to mid-2026. Non-UK trusts without a UK trustee that acquired UK land before October 2020 will be brought into scope for the first time, having previously been excluded. Trusts arising on death – including co-ownership arrangements and deeds of variation – are being given the same two-year registration grace period already given to will trusts, and Scottish conveyancers can stop assessing survivorship arrangements for TRS purposes, since these are being formally excluded. There’s also a new de minimis exemption on the way for newly created low-value trusts with no UK tax liability, no UK property, assets under £10,000, income under £5,000 a year and non-financial assets under £2,000 – genuinely useful if it applies to a trust you’re involved with. Acquiring shares that only trigger Stamp Duty Reserve Tax will also stop being a registration trigger on its own.
What it costs to get wrong
HMRC’s fixed penalty for failing to register a trust, or failing to keep its details updated, is £5,000 per offence – and it falls on the trustees personally, not on the trust’s assets. In practice, HMRC has said it won’t charge a penalty where the failure wasn’t deliberate and is corrected promptly once identified, which gives some room for an honest oversight. It isn’t a reason to leave it unchecked, though, particularly given how much the underlying rules have moved since many trusts were first set up.
Bonds still simplify UK reporting – but check where the bond actually sits
Investment bonds remain a genuinely useful tool for trustees for the reasons they always were: income and gains roll up within the policy rather than falling on the trustees year by year, chargeable gains are typically assessed on the settlor during their lifetime rather than the trust, and assigning a bond (or segments of it) to a beneficiary doesn’t itself trigger a chargeable event. A trust holding only a bond, with no other UK tax liability, may still have very little to report to HMRC on an ongoing basis, even though it will generally still need the initial TRS registration under the current rules.
What’s genuinely new, and easy to miss, is that this same structure can create an entirely separate obligation in Ireland. Ireland’s Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts – CRBOT – can apply to a wholly UK trust with wholly UK trustees, if the trustees enter into what’s defined as a business relationship in Ireland on the trust’s behalf. That definition is broad enough to catch a trust holding a bond issued by an Ireland-based provider – names like Standard Life International, Prudential International, Canada Life International and Utmost among them – even where the trust has no other Irish connection at all. CRBOT registration sits entirely separately from, and in addition to, UK TRS registration; one doesn’t excuse the other. Penalties for non-compliance in Ireland are considerably more severe than the UK’s, running up to €500,000 or up to twelve months’ imprisonment depending on the offence, though Irish Revenue has previously shown some leniency toward UK trustees during the settling-in period for these rules. If a trust you’re involved with holds a bond, it’s worth checking who actually issues it.
Get your trust’s position checked
Given how much has changed since 2018, a trust registered correctly back then may not be compliant now, and a trust that’s never needed to register before may need to as of this year’s changes. We work with trustees across Poole, Bournemouth and the wider Dorset area to review exactly this kind of position. If you’re a trustee and would like your trust’s registration status looked at, get in touch and we’re happy to help.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information provided is aimed at UK residents only. Apex CB Financial Planning Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FCA registration no. 507964. Registered in England, company no. 05082939.
The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change in future. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate trust registration, tax advice, or will writing.