Trust Tax Accountants
We register trusts, file the SA900, handle ten-year and exit charges, and run the tax through an estate's administration period. Fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts, and nothing charged until you approve the quote.
- Trust Registration Service: registered, and kept current afterwards
- The SA900 filed on time, at the rates for your kind of trust
- Ten-year and exit charges computed before the date, not after it
- Estate administration period: income tax, CGT, estate accounts and R185s
Tell us about the trust or estate
- Fixed fee up front
- No obligation
- Reply within 1 working day
What a Trustee Is Actually On the Hook For
Most trustees are appointed by someone else's decision and find out what it involves afterwards. These are the obligations in the order they arrive, from the day the trust exists to the day it is wound up.
Within 90 days
Register the trust
Almost every UK express trust has to go on HMRC's register, whether or not it pays any tax. Failing to register can attract a £5,000 penalty, and an unregistered trust struggles to transact at all.
Every year, by 31 January
File the SA900
The trust and estate tax return, at trust rates rather than personal ones. A discretionary trust pays 45% on non-dividend income from the first pound above a £500 band.
Every ten years
The anniversary charge
Relevant property trusts face an inheritance tax charge on each ten-year anniversary, valued on the day before. It arrives once a decade, which is why it is the one trustees miss.
Whenever assets leave
Exit charges
Property transferred out of a trust can carry an inheritance tax charge of up to 6%. What leaves affects the next anniversary computation, so the two cannot be handled separately.
From 6 April 2027
Pensions inside the estate
Unused pension funds come into inheritance tax, and personal representatives are liable for reporting and paying it. You can direct a scheme to withhold 50% for up to 15 months while you settle it.
On winding up
Final returns and R185s
A closing return, the register updated to show the trust has ended, and certificates to beneficiaries so they can report their share correctly on their own returns.
Trust Income Tax Rates
The rates depend on what kind of trust it is, and they are not the rates an individual pays. Income within the tax-free amount, normally £500, is taxed at the lower figures rather than the trust rates.
| Kind of trust | Other income | Dividend income |
|---|---|---|
| Accumulation or discretionary trust | 45% | 39.35% |
| Interest in possession trust | 20% | 10.75% |
| Income inside the tax-free amount | 20% | 10.75% |
Rates from HMRC guidance on trusts and income tax. The dividend figures rose on 5 April 2026, from 8.75%, so guidance written before then shows the old number. The tax-free amount is divided where one settlor created several trusts, and is £100 each where there are five or more.
We act for trustees and personal representatives: the people who have to file the returns, meet the deadlines and answer for the tax, usually because someone else appointed them. The work is compliance rather than planning. If you are deciding whether to set a trust up, that is a different conversation and a different adviser.
Everything is a fixed fee, agreed in writing before any work starts. No hourly billing, no charge for a question, and nothing taken until you approve the quote.
Why Trustees Get Caught Out
Three reasons, and none of them is carelessness. The first is that the obligations do not arrive together: registration is immediate, the return is annual, and the anniversary charge is once a decade, by which point the people involved may have changed entirely.
The second is that trust tax does not behave like personal tax. There is no personal allowance, the top rates apply from the first pound above a small band, and the rates differ by the kind of trust rather than by the size of the income.
The third is that the liability is personal. A trustee who gets it wrong is answerable for it themselves, which is a materially different position from being a director of a company that files late.
What We Handle
Registration and keeping the register current, the annual SA900, R185 certificates for beneficiaries, and the relevant property charges as they fall due.
On estates: income tax and capital gains through the administration period, estate accounts, and inheritance tax computations and valuation support. From April 2027 that includes the pension change, which puts a reporting obligation on personal representatives that did not exist before.
What We Do Not Do
We do not apply for grants of probate or prepare the papers for one. That is a reserved legal activity, this practice is not authorised for it, and the limits are set out in full rather than glossed over. Most estate work is not reserved and we do all of it.
We do not advise on investments, and we do not advise on whether to create a trust or how to structure one to reduce inheritance tax. That is planning work for the living, and it belongs with an estate planning adviser rather than here.
Every Obligation, in Detail
Pensions and IHT from 2027
This page covers unused pension funds enter IHT, and the liability lands on you.
Trust Registration Service
This page covers who has to register, the 90-day rule, and the £5,000 penalty.
The SA900 return
This page covers who files, by when, and at what rates.
The ten-year charge
This page covers the charge that arrives every decade, and why trustees miss it.
Accountants and probate
This page covers which parts are reserved, and which parts we can do.
Common questions
- Does my trust have to register even if it pays no tax?
- Usually yes. All UK resident express trusts must register with HMRC unless they fall within a specific exclusion, whether or not there is tax to pay. The deadline is 90 days from creation or from becoming liable to tax, and failing to register can attract a £5,000 penalty.
- What rate does a trust pay on its income?
- It depends on the type. An accumulation or discretionary trust pays 45% on non-dividend income and 39.35% on dividends above the tax-free amount. An interest in possession trust pays 20% and 10.75%. The dividend rates rose on 5 April 2026.
- I have just been appointed a trustee and do not know what I am holding. Can you help?
- Yes, and it is a common starting point. The first job is establishing what kind of trust it is, whether it is registered, and what has and has not been filed. That determines everything else, and it is quicker to find out than most people expect.
- Do you do probate?
- No. Applying for a grant is a reserved legal activity and this practice is regulated by the ACCA, which is not an approved regulator for probate. We do the tax and accounts work on estates, which is not reserved, and we will point you to the ICAEW register if you need the grant itself.
- What does it cost?
- A fixed fee, quoted before we begin. A single dormant trust with no income is at the lower end; add an overdue registration, a ten-year anniversary or an estate in administration and it costs more. We tell you which you are before you commit.
Find out what it costs before you commit
Tell us what kind of trust it is, whether it is registered, and what is outstanding. We come back with a fixed price and the date each filing has to be in by.
Tell us about the trust or estate