Register your client’s estate
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-10)

Register your client’s estate online if you’re a tax agent or adviser.

Who should register

You only need to register your client’s estate if any of the following apply, the:
- value of the estate exceeds £2.5 million
- value of assets sold by the personal representative in any one tax year exceeds £500,000
- total tax due exceeds £10,000
Who should not register

You do not need to register or send a return if an estate has no chargeable income and no chargeable gains, as long as you do not need to make a claim for a relief or an election.

This includes when you have no chargeable gains or claims because you have reported them on a Capital Gains Tax on UK Property return within 60 days of disposal.

Up to 5 April 2024, if the only income the estate received during the administration period was from bank account interest, and that was less than £500, there is no requirement to report the estate income to HMRC.

From 6 April 2024, estates with income of all types up to £500 will not pay Income Tax on that income as it arises. Where income exceeds that amount, tax will be payable on the full amount.

The £500 tax-free amount will apply:
- for every tax year of administration
- to all types of income, after taking off Individual Savings Account (ISA) income, which continues to be exempt after a person has died until closure, or up to 3 years following the death
If the income exceeds the tax free amount in any one tax year, and you do not meet the rules to register, you should use the informal payment arrangements (https://www.gov.uk/probate-estate/reporting-the-estate).

When to register

Register the estate with HMRC to obtain a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) by 5 October after the tax year when the estate starts to receive income, or has chargeable gains on which tax is payable.

What you need

Information about the estate

You need the:
- name of the estate, for example estate of John Smith deceased
- estate address and telephone number (this will be the personal representative’s address and number)
- date the administration period ended, if applicable
Personal representative

You need the person’s:
- name
- address
- date of birth
- National Insurance number or passport number and expiry date
- telephone number
- email address
Details about the person who has died

You need the deceased’s:
- name
- last known address
- date of birth
- date of death
- National Insurance number (if available)
Years of tax liability

You need to select the tax years that the estate needs to declare a liability to Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.

How to register

To register an estate, you need to have an agent services account. If you have already got one, you need the Government Gateway user ID and password you created when you set up the account.

If you do not have a Government Gateway user ID, you can create one the first time you register an estate. You will need:
- your agency’s UTR or Corporation Tax reference
- the postcode associated with that reference
- to have used HMRC online services for agents (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/self-assessment-for-agents-online-service)
You must be the person responsible for your agent firm’s tax or administrative matters. When you have set up an agent services account, you can add administrators and assistants before registering an estate.

Register now (https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/register-an-estate)

Service availability

HMRC services may be slow during busy times. Check if there are any problems with this service (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-a-trust-or-estate-service-availability-and-issues).

After you have registered

HMRC will send the personal representative the estate’s UTR, usually within 15 working days. You will need the estate’s UTR to start filing Self Assessment tax returns. You can do this by either:
- using Self Assessment commercial software (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-assessment-commercial-software-suppliers) to send it electronically by 31 January
- filling in paper form SA900 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-assessment-trust-and-estate-tax-return-sa900) and posting it to HMRC by 31 October (3 months earlier)
Registering your client’s estate does not give you authority to act on their behalf. HMRC need authority using form 64-8 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-agents-and-advisers-authorising-your-agent-64-8) to communicate with an accountant, tax agent or adviser acting on behalf of a personal representative.