Revenue CRBOT request - what constitutes a trust?

[Ceist Beag]

I have received a request from Revenue to register a trust on the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts (CRBOT). On enquiring, I was informed that if you own an Irish trust you are required to register your trust with the CRBOT.
Can anyone enlighten me as to what constitutes an Irish trust? My wife and I have an investment fund (for the past 22 years, initially it was with Quinn Life, since migrated over to Irish Life) which appears to be the source of this request from revenue. Could this savings investment fund have been reclassified as an "Irish trust" recently or was it always considered a trust and revenue have recently become aware of the fact we have such savings? I can see we recently had tax deducted due to the 8 year rule so maybe this is why revenue are now asking about it?
As usual in correspondence from revenue there is very little in the way of context or layman's terms so I'm a little bit confused about their request and where it comes from, never mind being able to comprehend what it is I need to do to satisfy their request.

 

[ClubMan]

First of all, how did you receive this request, what form did it take (letter, email, WhatsApp, text message, Revenue myAccount message etc.?), did it contain any links for you to visit, and are you absolutely sure that it's genuine?

The sort of QL/IL investment that you describe is unlikely to be constitute a trust nor is the deemed disposal tax event likely to be relevant. I'm assuming that this is a regular unit linked/UCITS investment plan.

Are either/both of you non-residents or not domiciled here?

Is the attached document of any use?

 

[Ceist Beag]

Received it via enquiry in ROS.ie itself and also subsequently via a letter received at our home address so it is genuine.
Neither of us are non-resident or not domiciled here.

 

[ClubMan]

Did you ever draw up a trust or become a trustee for a trust?

 

[Ceist Beag]

On the basis that the definition in that attaching of a trust as
"An express trust is one established by deed or other declaration in writing where a settlor has clearly declared that identifiable assets have been placed on trust for the benefit of certain beneficiaries. The express trust is one that is established not merely contemplated.",
then no, we have never drawn up anything such as this.

 

[ClubMan]

You should query this with Revenue so.
Maybe it's simply a mistake.

 

[Ceist Beag]

Thanks ClubMan, I'll respond on ROS.ie to inform them that it appears to be a mistake on their part.

 

[PMU]

It's a requirement under the EU's 4th and 5th anti-money laundering directives, which require member states to maintain a Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts (CRBOT).

 

[Ceist Beag]

That's not the question I asked.

 

[PMU]

Everything you need is here https://www.revenue.ie/en/crbot/crbot/index.aspx

 

[Ceist Beag]

Thanks PMU. It doesn't directly answer my question but one of the links there does suggest this is a mistake by revenue as it states the below, neither of which is applicable to our savings.

A relevant trust is an express trust established by deed or other declaration in writing.

Note

An express trust is one created in express terms as distinguished from one inferred by the law from the conduct or dealings of the parties.

 

[Persius]

Quinn Life had an investment product that you could take out in the name of a minor (e.g. your child etc). Irish Life now classify that as a trust. Not sure if this applies to the OP.

 

[Ceist Beag]

Thanks Persius. I had contacted Irish Life and they confirmed to me that our savings were not in trust but it seems they were wrong! I trawled back over the documentation sent by Irish Life (available in the online portal) and I found one from 2022 that said the below.

When you took out your policy you wrote it in Trust so that the proceeds will go to your chosen Beneficiary(s)after your death. Now, following the introduction of the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), you are required by law to register your Trust.

So it seems this was something we must have ticked when setting up the funds 22 years ago! Mystery solved, we have registered it on ROS now although the terms there are quite confusing to me so I hope I completed it correctly! For example they ask for "date entered into the entity’s internal register". I've no idea who or what the entity is or who or what the internal register is and the PDFs available on revenue don't help.

 

[Persius]

I think "date entered into the entity’s internal register" would be the date you purchased the product, as you presumably ticked some such box when purchasing. My assumption is that the "entity" is the trust.