Legal News | 14.08.25

Further changes to the Trust Registration Service (TRS)

Given the recent publication of the Finance Bill covering upcoming changes to inheritance tax, you’d be forgiven for missing the Government’s response to its consultation covering the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, which is the primary legislation which governs the Trusts Registration Service (TRS).

For those unfamiliar, the TRS is a register of beneficial ownership which requires trustees of all UK trusts (and certain non-UK trusts) to provide certain information to HMRC, including details of the trust’s settlor, trustees and beneficiaries. Registration is mandatory unless an exclusion applies.

Following stakeholder feedback, the Government has announced that further changes will be made to the existing rules, including:

• a de minimis exemption will be introduced. This will only apply to new trusts that satisfy certain conditions (including that they are not liable for UK taxes, their assets don’t exceed £10,000, they have no more than £5,000 of income in a tax year and have no more than £2,000 of ‘appreciable’ non-financial assets such as art or antiques);
• there will be an exemption from registration for a two-year period where co-ownership trusts have become registrable due to the death of a trustee, as well as for trusts created by deed of variation during the administration of a deceased person’s estate; and
• the scope of registration will be expanded to all non-UK trusts that hold an interest UK land or property (previously some trusts which acquired such interests before October 2020 were excluded).

The hope is that these changes will reduce the administrative burden for small trusts whilst ensuring the aims of the current rules in combatting money laundering are achieved. Whilst no timeline has been announced for the changes to come into force, secondary legislation could be presented to Parliament later this year.

As the above changes show, the TRS registration requirements continue to evolve. At times, they can appear inconsistent and be difficult to apply. If you are a trustee of a trust and you are worried about your TRS compliance, our Private Client team can advise you on your obligations, as well as register a trust on your behalf. Please contact the team at wealth@wansbroughs.com for further information.