Following on from the 1st September deadline for registering a trust with the Trust Registration Service (TRS), Today’s Wills and Probate can reveal that zero late registration penalties have been handed out by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) due to a deliberate failure to register as of 22nd September.
The registration requirement is recognised by HMRC as being “new and unfamiliar” for many trustees, despite the “extensive communications campaign” they have carried out to raise awareness.
However, reaching trustees is proving to be difficult. HMRC say that “the nature of the trust population means that there is no direct communications route, and therefore reaching all trustees will take some time”.
What’s more, asked how many trusts were left unregistered by the 1st September deadline, HMRC conceded:
“We do not hold this information. There are significant uncertainties accompanying any estimate of the number of trusts that will be obliged to register on TRS under the Money Laundering Regulations.”
Exactly how these “significant uncertainties” will be overcome remains to be seen.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that no penalties have been handed out. HMRC are struggling to identify the number of trusts obliged to register on the TRS, and they admit that reaching the trustees will take some time.
Assuming they can identify the trust and contact its trustees, they then must establish deliberate behaviour which has led to non-compliance, something that will be applied on a “case-by-case basis” and that carries a £5,000 fine.
HMRC added:
“We will continue to publicise TRS and also expect that the new discrepancy reporting requirement will help raise awareness and continue to drive up registrations.”
Today’s Wills and Probate also requested to see the number of trusts registered on the TRS. HMRC declined to disclose such information at this time, though it is expected that the relevant data will be published in due course.
Note – the information regarding the TRS within this article is contained within a Freedom of Information Request made by Today’s Wills and Probate on 2nd September 2022 and received 22nd September 2022.
Join nearly 5,000 other practitioners – sign up to our newsletter
