Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 section 69

Trustees of settlements

Section 69 establishes how trustees of a settlement are treated as a single taxable person for capital gains tax purposes, and sets out the rules for determining whether that single person is UK resident.

• The trustees of a settlement are collectively treated as a single person, separate from the individual trustees, and this deemed person is UK resident if all trustees are UK resident, or if there is a mix of UK and non-UK resident trustees but the settlor was UK resident (or, for pre-6 April 2025 settlements, UK domiciled) at the relevant time
• A non-UK resident trustee is treated as UK resident when acting as trustee through a UK branch, agency or permanent establishment, while a UK resident individual trustee is treated as non-resident if their trusteeship falls entirely within the overseas part of a split year (unless they are acting through a UK business)
• Where settlement property is held by different trustees or sets of trustees, they are all treated as forming a single body of trustees for capital gains tax purposes
• If capital gains tax assessed on the trustees remains unpaid for more than six months and the relevant asset or its sale proceeds are transferred to a beneficiary absolutely entitled to them, that beneficiary can be assessed in the trustees' name for up to the full amount of tax on the chargeable gain (or a proportionate part if only part of the asset or proceeds was transferred), at any time within two years of the tax becoming payable