Registered your Trust with HMRC’s Trust Registration Service yet?
As a Trustee, you’ll be well aware of the administrative and compliance responsibilities that come with the role. It's up to you to ensure that everything is in order.
So we wanted to make sure that you haven’t missed this change in the law regarding Trusts.
Even if your Trust doesn’t pay tax, you must register with HMRC’s Trust Registration Service. This must be done within 90 days of your Trust being set up, or for older Trusts, they should have been registered before 1st September 2022. Even if you have missed that deadline, you must still register your Trust as soon as possible.
Why the change?
Even though we’re not part of the EU anymore, we still need to comply with new, European-wide anti-money laundering legislation.
This means that registering with the TRS (Trust Registration Service) is now compulsory for almost all trusts, whether they pay tax or not.

Helping you to register your Trust
We believe in making all aspects of financial advice as simple and straightforward as we can, especially where Trusts are concerned. Whether you’re an SJP client or not, we’re here to help – and we’re more than ready to lend a hand with this new requirement.
All Trustees of the fund are equally responsible – but only one of you can actually register the Trust – this is the Lead Trustee. The first thing to do is to decide which of you that’ll be.
The online registration process is straightforward – but can be time consuming – via the HMRC website, where you’ll be asked to create a Government Gateway User ID, password, a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and register details of the Trust, its settlors, beneficiaries and Trustees.
SJP’s Anna Blake takes you through the entire process step by step in this video.

Can SJP do it for me?
We have developed a suite of support to help. If you’re already an SJP client, your Partner can support you through the actual process – and if it’s an SJP Trust, we will have all the details that you’ll need.
Ask your Partner for our checklist to make sure you’ve got all the details of settlors, beneficiaries, Trustees and Trust so you won’t have to keep stopping to hunt down names, NI numbers or contact details. It takes around 30 minutes to complete. And if you can’t complete it in one sitting, you can save, and log back in to complete it for up to 28 days.
If you are a Trustee of more than one Trust; you’ll need to register each one separately.
If you’re not with SJP, but you’d like some help, or would like a copy of our checklist, we’re just a phone call away and happy to answer any questions, complete the contact form below and one of our expert advisers will be in touch.
Making the most of being a Trustee
Becoming a Trustee can be very rewarding, but it’s a big responsibility. Whether you’re setting up a trust yourself or you’ve been asked to act on behalf of someone else, you’re accountable to your beneficiaries.
You have a legal requirement to get professional financial advice as a Trustee – both when arranging a new investment or if you’re reviewing existing ones. St. James’s Place’s specialist services include investment for trustees, and we can support you in all your responsibilities; from creating an appropriate investment strategy to choosing the best investment vehicle for tax purposes.
If you’re about to take on the responsibilities of Trusteeship, or already in post, but need expert advice on investing for the best, we’re here.
The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.
Trusts are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Still have questions?
St. James's Place Wealth Management plc are the data controllers of any personal data you provide to us on this form. For further information on our uses of your personal data, please see the St. James's Place Privacy Policy.