The regulations governing the relatively new Trust Registration Service (TRS) required most express trusts in the UK to register with the service by 1 September 2022.
By Chris Davies
What many individuals associated with clubs may have failed to realise is that unless registered as a charity, nearly all community and sports clubs including those registered as Community Amateur Sports Club need to be registered with the TRS.
The numbers involved are likely to run to many thousands of clubs and associations across the UK.
Unincorporated clubs have no separate legal capacity so their assets eg bank accounts, equipment etc are held by the trustees on behalf of the club in accordance with the trust deed or initial formation documents. Even where no formal trust deed exists, for example where a group of individuals simply decide to form a club, a “bare” trust will exist, which would be liable to register.
HMRC TRS Manual offers some useful guidance for trustees and in particular the example of a tennis club is particularly useful .
Failure to register or keep the TRS register up to date can result in penalties. However, as the regulations are new and unfamiliar HMRC are currently taking a light touch approach and are not currently charging penalties for late registration as long as the failure to register was not a deliberate act.
This does represent more admin for volunteers and trustees, but it is important that trustees are aware and that the necessary actions are followed to ensure that penalties are avoided.
If you would like to discuss this further with your usual point of contact within the firm please get in touch.
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