I have recently gone through this palaver with a client. In my case the trust already had a UTR, but had not been registered on the TRS because it had had no tax liabilities in recent years and HMRC had stopped issuing tax returns.
My trustee client could not create an online CGT account without first registering the trust on the TRS. I assume the trust reference referred to on the HMRC website is the 15 digit reference you get when you register the trust on the TRS, beginning with 5 letters. I must confess that I had not previously understood the importance of this reference, but you get something similar when creating a property account for reporting CGT.
In my case we have completed a tax return anyway as the trust has now ended, and we wanted to report that to HMRC, but I wouldn’t be surprised if HMRC automatically issue a tax return for the year if, when registering the trust, you state that you have a liability to CGT for the year.
Diana Smart
Gordons LLP