HMRC extends deadlines for registering trust based pension schemes

The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017

As reported in our October 2017 edition of Snapshot, the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the Regulations) require trustees of trust based occupational pension schemes to register their trust with HMRC. They also need to provide HMRC with a certain amount of basic personal information about the "beneficial owners" of the trust when they register.

Broadly speaking, all trusts (whether resident in the UK or not) which generate a "UK tax consequence" in any tax year and do not benefit from an exception under the Regulations are required to register with HMRC using its online Trusts Registration Service. A UK tax consequence will arise if the trust incurs UK liabilities for income tax, capital gains tax, non-resident capital gains tax, inheritance tax, stamp duty land tax or stamp duty reserve tax.

Pension scheme trustees will not benefit from an exception in the Regulations and so should consider taking steps to determine whether their trust needs to be registered.

HMRC has now announced an extension of the deadline for registering a trust. It has confirmed that no penalties will apply if a trust which generates a "UK tax consequence" in tax year 2016-17 is registered by the following dates:

• 5 January 2018 (previously 5 December 2017) if the trust needs to register for self-assessment (SA) for the first time in respect of tax year 2016-17 (due to incurring an income tax or capital gains tax liability for the first time in that tax year); and
• 5 March 2018 (previously 31 January 2018) if the trust is already registered for SA or is not required to register for SA.

The deadlines for later tax years remain unchanged. This means that a trust which does not generate a "UK tax consequence" in tax year 2016-17 but does generate a "UK tax consequence" in tax year 2017-18 must be registered by the following dates:

• 5 October 2018 if the trust needs to register for SA for the first time in respect of tax year 2017-18; and
• 31 January 2019 if the trust is already registered for SA or is not required to register for SA.

Trustees who fail to register by the relevant deadline risk both fines and convictions for criminal offences.