TRSM91010 - How to: contents: register a trust: contents: how to register a trust online
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-07)


This guidance provides information on how to set up an Organisation Government Gateway account and register a trust online using the Trust Registration Service (TRS).

A trustee must create a new Organisation Government Gateway user ID for each trust they need to register on the TRS. They cannot use an existing Government Gateway user ID that has been set up to register another trust or access another GOV.UK service such as a personal tax account.

Individual Government Gateway user IDs cannot be used to register a trust on the TRS.

A trustee will need to complete each section of the registration, all questions should be answered to the best of the trustee’s knowledge. The trustee can save the registration and come back to it later if they need to gather more information about the trust - see TRSM91030 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trust-registration-service-manual/trsm91030). The data will be stored for 28 days, after which the trustee would need to start the registration process again.

Mandatory questions must be updated within 90 days of your completed registration (see step 12 for details of mandatory questions).

For detailed guidance on what information is required to register a trust, see TRSM32000 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trust-registration-service-manual/trsm32000).

Registering a trust as a trustee

A trustee can register a trust online by completing the following steps:

1. Select the following link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-a-trust-as-a-trustee.

Alternatively, go to www.gov.uk (http://www.gov.uk/) and search ‘Register a trust as a trustee’.

2. Read the guidance on the page. This page includes details on what information is required to register a trust. It may be useful to gather this information before continuing.

3. Select the green ‘Register now’ button to access the ‘Sign in using Government Gateway’ page. The green ‘Register now’ button can be found in the ‘How to register’ section of the guidance.

4. Select ‘Create sign in details’ to set up a new Government Gateway account for the trust. This link is located below the green ‘Sign in’ button.

5. Follow the instructions on screen to get a Government Gateway user ID for the trust. The trustee should make a note of the Government Gateway user ID and store it securely. They will be asked to enter the trust’s user ID and password each time they sign in to the service.

Before the trustee receives the Government Gateway user ID for the trust they will need to:
- Enter their email address
- Enter a code emailed to them by Government Gateway to confirm their email address
- Enter their full name
- Create a password
6. Follow the instructions on screen to set up additional security for the account. An access code will be sent to the trustee each time they sign in to the service.

To set up additional security, the trustee will need to:
- Confirm how they want to receive access codes (for example by text message, voice call)
- Enter a mobile phone number if they have selected to receive access codes by text message. You can add an international phone number by selecting ‘No’ to the question ‘Are you entering a UK phone number.’
- Enter the 6-digit access code sent from 60551 and select ‘Continue’. The code will expire within 15 minutes.
7. Confirm if the trust has already been registered online. If the trustee is registering the trust for the first time, they should select ‘No’.

8. Confirm if the trust already has a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) by selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. A UTR is a 10-digit number. The trustee will be asked to enter the trust’s UTR if the trust has one.

9. Confirm if an express trust is being registered by selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. An express trust is a trust created deliberately by a settlor, usually in the form of a document such as a written trust deed of trust. For more information, see TRSM22010 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trust-registration-service-manual/trsm22010).

10. Confirm if the trust has any tax liability for the current tax year by selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

11. Confirm if the trust has had any UK tax liability in the last four tax years by selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

12. Complete each section of the registration. All questions in each section should be answered to the best of the trustee’s knowledge. Complete each section of the registration. All questions in each section should be answered to the best of the trustee’s knowledge. However ,mandatory questions must be updated within 90 days of your completed registration.

Mandatory questions

The following information is mandatory and you may receive a penalty if it is missing or out of date:
- For all people listed on the TRS
- Current first and Last name
- Month and year of birth
- Country of residence
- Nationality
- Trustees
- A correct lead trustee
- The current trustees only – this must be the same as your trust deed
- Current contact addresses where requested
- Beneficiaries
- The list of beneficiaries as set out in your trust deed
- All relevant classes of beneficiary i.e. all grandchildren of the settlor
- Any organisations listed on TRS
- The organisations name
- The organisations full address including country if requestedExampleJeremy has decided to register his trust, he doesn’t have up to date information for the country of residence of some of the beneficiaries, so he answers NO to the question “do you know the country of residence?”. TRS will allow Jeremy to continue with his registration, but he must update this information within 90 days of the completion of the registration.
Please ensure that all of the trust details are correct and up to date, as you will not be able to come back to a closed trust to amend any details. You can do this by selecting ‘make changes to the trust and declare’

13. The trustee can save the registration to come back to later if they need to gather more information about the trust - see TRSM91030 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trust-registration-service-manual/trsm91030). The data will be stored for 28 days, after which you will need to start the registration process again.

14. Check the information entered after completing each section. Select ‘Change’ to amend details or ‘Save and continue’ if all the details are correct.

15. The registration progress screen will be displayed after completing each section. This will show the status of all sections of the registration, for example not started, in progress or completed.

16. Select ‘Continue to declaration’ once all the sections of the registration are complete. This is a green button at the bottom of the registration progress page.

17. The trustee should provide their full name before selecting ‘Confirm and send’.

18. Print or save a declared copy of the trust’s registration. Please note this document is not proof of registration.

This document is a summary of the answers provided by the trustee and includes the trust’s declaration reference at the top of the first page. The declaration reference is a 15-character reference which is in a similar format to XC TRN 000 000 0000. The trustee may be required to quote the trust’s declaration reference if they need to contact HMRC about the registration.

19. Follow any additional instructions shown on screen. For example, if the trust is non-taxable the trustee will be advised to sign out of the service and sign in again to view the trust’s Unique Reference Number.

To view the trust’s URN online after registering the trust, the trustee will need to sign out of the service, then sign back in again using the trust’s Government Gateway user ID and password.

If an agent has registered the trust on behalf of a trustee, HMRC will send the URN to the lead trustee by post within 15 working days. It may take longer if the lead trustee’s address is outside the UK.

Information for agents

Agents can access the Trust Registration Service (TRS) to register a trust via their agent services account.

To register a trust online an agent will need to:
- be registered as an agent (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-with-hmrc-to-use-an-agent-services-account) with HMRC
- create an agent services account (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-an-hmrc-agent-services-account) if they don’t already have one
- access the TRS using their agent services account Government Gateway user ID and password.