02/11/2020
Charities and the HMRC Trust Registration Service
In January this year legislation came into force to incorporate the EU’s Fifth Money laundering Directive into UK law, and expanded the scope of the Trust Registration Service (TRS) by requiring all UK some non-EU resident express trusts to register with the service. At the time it was thought that charitable trusts would fall within this definition and would be required to register.
In a rare piece of good news, following a consultation on how the TRS should operate to reflect the new legislative framework, it has been accepted that the risk that charitable trusts are used for money laundering or terrorist financing activity is low. Draft regulations have now been published that relate to the UK’s exit from the EU which exempts registered charities, and those which are not required to register due to being an exempt or excepted charity or due to being small in size from having to register with the TRS, saving them from this onerous obligation. Those charities which operate occupational pension schemes will be pleased to hear that they too will not have to register with the TRS.
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