Trust CGT guidance updated for rates and UK property reporting changes from 6 April 2026

HM Revenue & Customs updated its guidance on trusts and Capital Gains Tax on 6 April 2026, the start of the 2026 to 2027 tax year¹. The page, first published in 2008, now reflects changes in rates and in when trustees must report and pay Capital Gains Tax on UK property¹.

The trust tax-free allowance, called the annual exempt amount, is £1,500 for 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, or £3,000 where the beneficiary is disabled¹. The same figures applied in each of the three preceding tax years, having been £3,000 and £6,000 in 2023 to 2024 and £6,150 and £12,300 in 2022 to 2023¹.

Where a settlor has set up more than one trust, the allowance is divided equally between them, up to a maximum of five¹. The guidance states that if a settlor has set up five or more trusts, the exempt amount is capped at £1,200 per trust, or 10 or more where the trust is for the benefit of a disabled person¹. This applies to trusts set up after 7 June 1978, or after 9 March 1981 for a trust with a disabled beneficiary¹.

After the tax-free allowance is deducted, the remaining amount is taxed at 24%, described in the guidance as the rate of Capital Gains Tax for trustees¹. Under Business Asset Disposal Relief, trustees pay 18% on disposals from 6 April 2026, 14% on disposals between 6 April 2025 and 5 April 2026, and 10% on disposals before 5 April 2025, on qualifying profits from selling assets used in the beneficiary's business¹.

The guidance sets out when Capital Gains Tax is not payable. There is usually none when a beneficiary dies and their interest in possession comes to an end, and none when a person dies and leaves assets to someone, whether in a trust or not¹. Trustees pay no tax if they transfer assets to beneficiaries, or in some cases to other trustees, though the recipient may pay tax on a later sale or disposal¹. Trustees also pay no Capital Gains Tax when they sell a property the trust owns, provided it is the main residence for someone the trust says can live there¹.

Why it matters for households

The changes affect trustees and the beneficiaries of trusts that hold assets which have risen in value, and anyone considering putting assets into a trust, since Capital Gains Tax can be payable when assets go into a trust, come out of it, or pass to a beneficiary¹. The rate applied to gains above the trust allowance is 24%¹, and the allowance for the year beginning 6 April 2026 is £1,500, unchanged from the two previous years but well below the £6,150 available in 2022 to 2023¹. Where one person has set up several trusts, each trust's share of the allowance is smaller, and is capped at £1,200 once there are five or more¹.

For UK property, trustees must report and pay Capital Gains Tax within 60 days of selling, where the completion date was on or after 27 October 2021¹. Other trust disposals go in a Trust and Estate Tax Return where the chargeable assets disposed of are worth more than £50,000 for 2023 to 2024 onwards, or where gains exceed the annual exempt amount, among other conditions¹. The guidance does not state whether the 60 day property reporting window itself changed from 6 April 2026; it says only that the page was updated to reflect changes in rates and in when to report and pay¹.

What happens next

The rates and allowance figures apply for the tax year running from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027¹. Trustees report disposals through the Trust and Estate Tax Return or, for UK property, through the report and pay Capital Gains Tax on UK property service¹. HMRC's rates and thresholds for other years are published separately¹.