New register for trusts

In June 2017 the Government enacted legislation which imposes significant obligations upon trustees to collect, maintain and disclose information about trusts and related individuals, such as the settlor and the beneficiaries.

This is part of a Europe-wide initiative to tackle money laundering, organised crime and terrorist financing, which resulted in the introduction of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive in 2015.

The information must be provided via HMRC's new online Trust Registration Service (TRS) and the deadline for reporting is fast approaching, with some trustees having to report by 5 January 2018 to avoid incurring penalties. The first reporting will be in respect of the 2016/2017 tax year.

In this briefing, we consider the impact of the TRS on trustees, including the circumstances in which information needs to be disclosed and what trustees should be doing now to ensure compliance.

Click here to read the full briefing note.

Various changes have been announced since the date of this briefing and we have produced a further briefing on this issue, please click here to read more.