I am hoping that someone on here may be able to clear something up for me. I am acting for two PR’s in connection with their mother’s estate. The mother, during her lifetime took out a Loan Trust and was told by Skipton Building Society to register it. The PR’s believe that their mother did this in or around 2021/2022 as one recalls her mother handing her a sealed envelope to post to the Revenue enclosing a form. The PR does not know the contents of the envelope but has provided me with a copy of SA404N which are notes for completing form SA404. When I google SA404, something about carer’s allowance comes up but SA404N refers to the registration of a non-taxpaying trust. My clients are sure that the trust has been registered but do not have any documentation to prove this.
Has anyone come across form SA404 before? I was planning on writing to HMRC and referring to this form and asking if the trust has been registered but would appreciate any tips anyone may be able to provide and if anyone has found themselves in a similar situation. Thank you in advance, Sarah
Sarah
Any HMRC form starting with SA is usually to do with “self-assessment” and nothing to do with trust registration. Trusts have to be registered electronically using the HMRC online facility. Perhaps if you were digitally excluded you might be able to do this by post, but I think this is unlikely as HMRC would expect an agent to be instructed to deal with this. Had the trust been registered, HMRC would have issued a URN (unique reference number) and would have sent it out by post to the “lead trustee”. Banks, building Societies & insurance companies are now very particular about obtaining the standard proof of trust registration that registered trusts can download, before they will engage or deal with anything.
Do the PRs know the exact part of HMRC that the envelope was sent to? There is an option to ask HMRC about non-taxable trusts when contacting HMRC Trusts and Estates (0300 123 1072) and they could perhaps call them to ask if there is a record of the trust having been registered, but writing to HMRC or trying to contact them by phone is a complete nightmare at the moment!
I suspect that the trust was not registered and should now be registered without further delay. If you or they have any questions about how to go about this, please feel free to contact me.
regards