Estate registration is the process of registering an estate with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to obtain a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR). The UTR is required to declare a liability to Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax for the estate.

Estate registration is necessary if the value of the estate exceeds £2.5 million, if the value of assets sold by the personal representative in any one tax year exceeds £500,000, or if the total tax due exceeds £10,000. However, if the estate’s only income is from savings, and the tax due is less than £100 in any one tax year, estate registration is not required.

To register an estate, the personal representative must have an agent services account. If an account is not yet created, one can be set up during the estate registration process. The personal representative will need to provide information about the estate, personal representative, details about the deceased, and years of tax liability.

The deadline to register an estate is 5 October after the tax year in which the estate starts to receive income or has chargeable gains on which tax is payable. The estate registration process is completed online through the agent services account.

Once an estate is registered, the personal representative is responsible for completing and filing any necessary tax returns and paying any tax due. The personal representative must also keep accurate records of the estate’s income, gains, and expenses to ensure that the tax liability is calculated correctly.